Smaller Navajo rugs begin at $100, but they get more expensive as they get larger. Antique Navajo rugs are available in a variety of sizes, from approximately $1,000 up to thousands. The value of historic Navajo rugs may be increased by adding provenance. This could include previous publication history or collection history. Depending on the size, contemporary Navajo rugs range from UNDER 500 to many thousand. Today's Navajo weaving community is shrinking. Many young weavers don't want to learn this ancient Navajo weaving art. It is a tedious and difficult craft. Whether or not you purchase a Navajo Rug will depend on whether you are looking to encourage your young Navajos into weaving.
Below is Jennie Slick, master loomer, and a small completed rug. It's obvious that the rug is finished without fringe. Also, the side selvage chord stands out against the dark background wool. This rug shows all the characteristics of a true Navajo rug. The rug is made entirely of wool and includes the warp. There is also a side selvage cord. Finally, the Zapotec rug can be seen at right. The fringe is visible at the bottom. This type of rug is often confused with a Navajo weave. If you don't know the fringe, you will be able to see it. These rugs use hand spun yarns and are hand dyed. They require a lot more skill than Navajo weavings. You will see a lot less pattern in these rugs than in a typical Navajo piece the same size.
If you are in the market for a new rug, you may want to check its authenticity first. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act prohibits the sale of American Indian crafts that are not authentic. While a good seller will tell you how long it has been in business, you should be careful to avoid buying a counterfeit rug. This law applies to Native American rugs and blankets, as well as all other American Indian products marketed in the U.S.
This is accomplished by alternating weft threads of two contrasting colors and tightly “battening” or packing them together, giving the effect of a thin, undulating line. Starting in the 1940s, Sally and William Lippincott, owners of the trading post at Wide Ruins, Arizona worked with the weavers in their area to develop highly detailed banded patterns rendered in vegetal dyes. Most Wide Ruins rugs are characterized by very fine, tightly-spun yarns and a flat, even weave. They feature the full range of new vegetal colors including soft green, mauve, terra cotta, and pale purple, pink and blue as well as the more common yellow, gold, brown, and tan. Burntwater, another center of vegetal dye weaving near Wide Ruins, has given its name to a distinctive rug type which combines the bordered, central geometric designs of modern Ganado and Two Grey Hills rugs with bright pastel, vegetal colors.
The majority of these fakes are really just dhurries in Navajo rug designs. Some of the better fakes use good quality wool or a wool and polyester blend. Some really bad ones use polyester yarn. Dhurries are very cheap even in the more intricate patterns. The sides selvages have bundled warps and the ends will be hand serged.
To aid in Navajo rug ID, there are certain ones that can be identified by their distinctive colors, others by the bands of color and the designs within those bands, and certain others by their distinctive designs. The Ganadoand Klagetoh tend to have simpler designs than the similar Two Grey Hills, and Burntwater rugs. Ganado rugs always have a red background. The distinctivered color is often called a ‘Ganado Red.’ The design, based on a centraldiamond or two, will be in black, white, and grey in the center of the field.