Navajo Third Phase Chief’s Blanket Circa 1865

Item: 1340

Origins: Navajo
Date:  Circa 1865

Media: Wool

Dimensions: 68″ by 53″

Description: This is a beautiful Third Phase Chief’s blanket.  The weaving is fine with churro wool, the type of sheep originally brought to North America by the Spanish.    The white and brown are hand spun, natural colored wool.  Here we see the alternating banding first seen in the first phase blankets.  The brown yarn is beautiful showing subtle variations giving complexity to its hues.  The white wool is actually a butter cream color and hints towards a soft yellow. In this case, there are two brown bands alternating with three white ones.

The deep blue is white natural wool dyed with indigo.  The yellow is white, natural wool likely dyed with rabbit brush, a locally found plant in the Southwest. The red is cochineal dyed wool.  The wool is most likely unraveled from red cloth imported to the area from either Europe or the Eastern Seaboard.  The speckled quality of the red wool comes from unraveling cloth that was dyed red, but where the red did not saturate deep into the cloth.  The result is a speckled look to the yarn where the yarn comes not just from the red surface, but also from the core of the cloth where it is more white.  This type of bayeta is called Manchester bayeta.

The design  shows a center line of three diamonds with only the center diamond complete.   The edges then show additional rows of three diamonds, in this case only half is woven.  When the blanket is wrapped around the body and the two sides meet, then these three rows of diamonds become complete and copy the center design.  Each diamond is centered with a cross.  The top and bottom rows have the classic, Navajo spider woman crosses capped on each end with a short, yellow zone.   In contrast, the middle row shows three Christian crosses.  We have wondered if the weaver might have considered making this for a Southern Plains Indian since they were the first Natives to convert to Christianity.   The Christian crosses may have made her weaving more desirable.  The stepped bars alternate between indigo and yellow and outline each diamond.  This sort of detail adds a dynamic quality to the blanket.  This is a very handsome and rare blanket.

Condition:  Condition is excellent with a few stains.  There is minor restoration.

Provenance: A private collection in Santa Fe, NM

Price: On request