Featured Navajo Rugs Help

I was wondering anyone could help me out a little on these rugs. They appear to be navajo but, im not exactly sure of the age or if they're worth much. Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

Calling @Taupou .
We're keeping you busy these days.

 

Taupou is going to want to see the full ends and corners on the second one.

 

Right, the edges and corners are very important to distinguish a good copy from an authentic Navajo rug. These look good, but if you could get a photo of the first one that's a little less blurry, and photos of the corners on both, that would be helpful.

(I may not be able to get back to you on this until late tonight or tomorrow morning.)

 

Without seeing how the edges and corners are constructed, and with a blurry photo of the first rug, it is not going to be possible to positively identify these, or give any additional information about them.

Based just on what I can see, I'd say the first rug is not Navajo, the other two might be.

 

I ended up not getting those. I ended up with these heres #1 its huge like 94" . It has lazy lines. How does one go about dating these?

 

#2 has lazy lines 47"

 

#3

 

#4 This one I am not sure of. Its defiantly feels old. But a bit different construction than the others

 

Rug #4 is Mexican, not Navajo or Native American. It's a variation of a Texcoco pattern, named for the area of Mexico where it originated.

The other three are Navajo, 1920s to 1940s. The wear and damage will hurt resale values, since it's getting harder to sell rugs with any damage at all, and getting them repaired is usually not cost-effective, unless they are rare and unusual textiles to begin with.

 

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it.

Do you recommend any books for a novice to learn where certain rugs were sold originally like germantown ect.

 

Some references I have found helpful:
Maxwell, Gilbert S. Navajo Rugs, past present & future. Best-West Publications,1963.
Brody, J.J. Between Traditions: Navajo Weaving Toward the End of the Nineteenth Century. University of Iowa Museum of Art, 1976.
Rodee, Marian E. Old Navajo Rugs: Their Development from 1900 to 1940. University of New Mexico Press, 1981.
James, H.L. Rugs and Posts: the Story of Navajo Weaving and Indian Trading. Schiffer Publishing, 1988.
Bennett, Noel & Tiana Bighorse. Navajo Weaving Way: The Path from Fleece to Rug.
Interweave Press, 1997.

Germantown actually refers to a particular yarn used by some of the Navajo weavers from about 1880 to 1910. It was a 4 ply aniline dyed yarn made in Germantown, Pennsylvania. This is the brightly colored yarn used in the so-called "eye-dazzlers".

 

If you can find a copy, an excellent reference (with only 35 pages, more a booklet than a book) is Genuine Navajo Rug, How to Tell by Noel Bennett, published in 2000 by Filter Press, in cooperation with the Indian Arts and Crafts Association. It was originally published by the Maxwell Museum and the Navajo Tribe, so you may be able to find one of those.

It clearly explains and illustrates the difference between an authentic Navajo rug and an imitation made in Mexico (which may look the same from a distance, or in a photo).

It includes information not found in the more expensive books, presumably because it is assumed people interested in Navajo weaving already know what to look for, or possibly because some of the books were written before the Mexican copies flooded the market in the 1970s/1980s.

For novice collectors, this should be the very first purchase, because of its concise and helpful information.

 

@Taupou

I came back to this thread, hoping for some book recommendations, and here they are thanks!

I was wondering, do you have an opinion on this book?

Brody, J.J. Between Traditions: Navajo Weaving Toward the End of the Nineteenth Century.

TIA

 

Looks like moroccan atlas berber rugs

 

Many thanks to you, too @2manybooks!

 

Yes, some rug patterns are universal. And there could be a Spanish connection,

 

The first Navajo rugs were simple black and white stripes or bands. Most of the designs we think of now as Navajo or Southwest patterns, were actually introduced by early trading post managers, thinking it would help improve sales.

Spanish influence in the southwest brought new designs, which in turn, had originated in northern Africa, due to the 700+ years of Moorish influence in Spain.

Traders added design patterns taken from the Oriental rugs they thought their customers were more familiar with, and therefore would be more likely to buy, so there is a connection with Turkish/Afghanistan/Middle East rug patterns as well.