Featured Navajo/NA made or just in the style of?

Just noticed this for sale locally for $25. Don’t really know how to identify a Navajo/NA rug vs. one made to look like one. I’ll check a bunch of images but figured I would ask here too.

 

Not Navajo or Native American. Here's how to tell:

The Navajo are the only Native American tribe that weaves rugs, and their weavings are identified not by the design, but by the way they are woven. They will never be woven with fringe on both ends.
The Navajo use a unique type of loom and weaving technique (an upright loom with a continuous warp) which results in a rug with yarn loops in each corner (which may be cut), instead of fringe across the top and bottom. It is physically impossible to weave a rug with fringe on both ends on a Navajo loom.

Just because a rug doesn't look like it has fringes on both ends, doesn't necessarily mean that it is Navajo, however.

Whenever you see a single twisted, thick cord sticking out from each corner, it is a sign of a Mexican copy. Navajo rugs will have yarn tassels in each corner, but they will not be twisted together into a single cord.

There are a couple additional ways to tell if a rug is genuine, or a copy, which require a hands-on examination.

The fringe can be woven back into the body of the rug, or bound off, or hidden, to make it look like a Navajo rug. If it is woven back, there will be a slight variation in the texture or the last inch or two of the ends of the rug, where each weft stitch will be covering two warps, instead of one. If it is bound off, it will be wrapped with yarn or a cloth edging, or finished with the thick twisted cords.

A final way to tell is to carefully separate the outer weft threads on the long edge of the rug to reveal the underlying outside warp thread. If it is a "bundle" of three or more threads, or a thicker yarn than the rest of the warp threads, the rug is not Navajo.

Any of these signs are an indication of a copy, or non-Native American weaving.

 

W

Wow, what a great answer. Thanks! An overwhelming amount of info actually for someone that doesn't understand weaving at all. Great jumping off point for learning more! Thanks again!

 

That was such an interesting read !!! A GREAT learning experience ... Thank You Taupou ... Joy.

 

Thanks, Taupou!

 

So... Zapotec?

Its a great looking rug, @J Dagger - for $25!

I'd grab it

 

I don't think it's Zapotec, as it doesn't have the traditional Zapotec fringe (where each strand is twisted and tied at the end.)

It's an interesting piece, butI don't know where it's from, just that it isn't Navajo or Native American.

 

Can you tell what the fibers are - wool or cotton?

 

After my posts have been up for a while I stop getting alerts about new replies for some reason. Just saw some new ones. It is a very cool looking rug. I don’t have much storage space or a good place to lay it though. If it was Navajo I would find room to keep it or if it had a relatively high value. One of the bad parts about living in the city...space is at a premium. I’m trying to get really disciplined about my purchasing until I unload some stuff I picked up just because. I’m not doing well but I’ve been good about large stuff. Now I just buy double the smalls.

 

I didn’t end up getting it after hearing it was definitely not NA. I still like it but left it for someone else.

 

Whole threads have been dedicated to the consequences of "just because!"

Of course, all mine are "no brainers,"
so a turquoise/aqua rug...