Navajo Rug Patterns
Starting in the 1920s and continuing through today, different Navajo rug designs were identified by and named for the region from which the design originated. Not every Navajo rug design is named for its region, but many are. For example, Sandpainting, Two Faced, and Twill Weave are a few examples of designs you’ll find at Navajorug.com which are not identified with a region of the Reservation. Chinle, Ganado, and Teec Nos Pos are a few examples of Navajo rug designs which are named after a Navajo region.
To understand how such tremendous variety could issue from just a single Native American Reservation, you must first understand the unique nature of the Navajo Indian Reservation. The Navajo Reservation is the largest in the United States. It encompasses a land mass of 27,000 square miles, with land in Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. According to the 2000 census, about 174,000 of the nearly 300,000 Navajos lived within the Navajo Nation. You’ll find wonderful examples of indigenous designs from Two Grey Hills, Teec Nos Pos, Ganado, Crystal, Wide Ruins, Chinle, Western Reservations, and Burntwater at Navajorug.com.
The rugs, blankets, and wall hangings sold at Navajorug.com are all hand-woven on traditional, upright looms. They’re all made from 100 percent wool, and some are even made from desirable Navajo-Churro wool. What, then, distinguishes a rug that costs 150 dollars from a rug that costs 15,000 dollars? Generally speaking, the size of the rug and the intricacy of its pattern affect the final cost. (Additional factors which affect cost include the rug’s age, wool type, and dye type.)
Some of the rugs we sell through Navajorug.com are so large and intricate that a single rug takes more than a year to weave! Even an “average” Navajorug.com rug takes two to three months to weave. Intricate Navajo rug patterns are breathtakingly beautiful. The complexities of such patterns reveal themselves to the viewer over time. Like a favorite painting, an ornate Navajo rug reveals different details and different shades of color with repeat viewings.
Handmade rugs in traditional Navajo rug patterns make truly wonderful heirlooms. Not only is their durability legendary, but their designs and colors are timeless. Native American rugs and other textiles have been central to many design movements over the ages, including the much loved American Arts and Crafts movement. Your Navajorug.com rug will look as elegant and pleasing in 100 years as it does today, or as it would have 100 years ago.
You’ll find lots of helpful information about each of the unique handmade rug designs sold at Navajorug.com, including the artist’s name, the rug’s dimensions, and the name of the design. There are a limited number of rugs posted on the website, so please contact us for your personal needs and we can send you JPEGs of the weavings that are available. You can also contact us to learn more about a specific rug or about Navajo rugs in general by emailing firstname.lastname@example.org or calling (800) 737-2579. We’d love to hear from you!