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Message:: [QUOTE="Taupou, post: 11404, member: 45"]If a rug is woven with fringe on both ends, it is a sign it is not Navajo.  Fringe on one end only is found on Navajo Gallup Throws, a specific type of small (usually about 18" x 30"), inexpensive, quickly produced souvenir rugs, that originally were woven around the Gallup area in New Mexico.  The earlier ones were done with cotton warp.  This is a Navajo Gallup Throw, with a Yei pattern, and probably dates ca. 1950's. The only other exception to the "no fringe" rule is some old Germantown Navajo rugs and some saddle blankets, but in both cases, the fringe is added on as a decorative element, after the rug is woven.  It's good to question the authenticity, though, since the Yei pattern is probably the most frequently copied Navajo design by Mexican weavers.  But they will be woven with fringe on both ends...although the fringe is often woven back into the body of the rug to hide it, or the ends are bound off, or finished in a way to hide the fact that they were woven on a mechanized floor loom, and not on an authentic Navajo loom.  In that case, beware if the rug has a single, thick, twisted cord sticking out of each corner...a sure sign of a Mexican fake.  Navajo rugs will have yarn loops in the corners.[/QUOTE]