Navajo (Diné) weaving: tapestry on the upright loom, from wearing blankets (1600s–) to floor rugs (1880s–1920)
Research finding · not yet checked at the source · Image permission pending
- Made by
- Diné (Navajo) weavers; traders J. L. Hubbell (Ganado) and J. B. Moore (Crystal)
- Date
- weaving c. 1600–1700 (disputed); rug era c. 1880–1920
- Place
- Navajo country, Arizona and New Mexico
- Materials
- wool, indigo, bayeta
- Themes
- Rug-making techniques
Cite this source
Research notes
How it works: a continuous warp is strung on an upright loom hanging from a horizontal pole, and the loom has no moving parts. Coloured wefts are woven in tapestry fashion only where each colour is needed, so 'lazy lines' form between blocks. Blankets had four finished selvedges (Arizona State Museum; Millicent Rogers Museum blog via Adams State). Origins conflict: the Arizona State Museum says Navajo weaving was a distinct activity by 1650 and shared the upright loom and techniques with Pueblo weavers. A Taos lecture summary dates the adoption of the loom to around 1600. Other accounts tie it to Pueblo refugees after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, though some say Navajos wove half a century earlier. By 1805, First Phase chief blankets were being woven (lecture summary). Shift to rugs: from the 1880s traders such as Hubbell at Ganado and Moore at Crystal steered weavers toward bordered floor rugs for Anglo buyers. Moore showed weavers Turkish carpets and Hubbell had designs painted for them. Sources give the transitional period as late 1870s or 1890–1920, and say weavers long resisted borders (dealer sources). Sources: https://statemuseum.arizona.edu/online-exhibit/19-century-navajo-weaving-asm/navajo-weaving-methods · https://statemuseum.arizona.edu/node/228 · https://blogs.adams.edu/salazar-center/2019/11/25/ · https://toh-atin.com/blog/how-navajo-blankets-became-rugs/ Research note (Oct 2026): from search results; pages not opened.