Pictorial Navajo Rug Designs

Pictorial rugs began to show up as early as the 1860 s and are still used as an artistic expression in native american culture today.

Pictorial navajo rug designs.

The navajo pictorial rugs of today are fantastic pieces of art that portray in their design a variety of themes including religious ceremonial art scenes of daily navajo life bird pictorials depicting colourful birds around a cornstalk growing from a ceremonial basket and a variety of still images and writing pictorials. Moore who owned the trading post at crystal new mexico from 1897 1911 was another visionary trader who exercised enormous influence over early navajo rug design. Dec 20 2017 explore mini rug artisan s board pictorial rugs on pinterest. Pictorial navajo rugs for sale at nizhoni ranch gallery new items added regularly visit steve getzwiller s nizhoni ranch gallery online store for the best selection of navajo rug weaving and blankets for sale as well as native american art of all kinds.

See more ideas about rugs navajo rugs native american rugs. Weavers let their imaginations run and the results are sometimes like something grandma moses might have done. Recently a weaver brought a rug depicting the loading of animals on noah s ark. Aug 30 2019 motifs in dine navajo rugs that might be suitable for quilts.

Early pictorial designs usually featured feathers arrows animals and other familiar navajo icons within a geometric design. From timeless landscapes to traditional celebrations to large geometric designs navajo weavings are truly a joy to experience. One by one the animals file up the gangplank as a navajo looking noah looks on. I would never copy a work of art but the motifs and color combinations are inspiring.

The navajo people chose not to include it in future weavings after this period. The navajo people are more than just unmatched craftsman they re also storytellers who weave tales of courage historic deeds and wondrous imagination into the very fabric of their pictorial rugs. Navajo weavers have been creating pictorial rug styles since the 19th century but they grew in popularity after world war ii. A design element that appeared in navajo weaving from the late 19th century and continued until the late 1930s is the navajo whirling logs this design is recognized by anglos as a swastika and caused great controversy in the late 1930s.

Navajo pictorial rugs our navajo pictorial rugs portray art of a variety of themes including religious ceremonies scenes of daily life and bird pictorials.