how To Remove Stains from Native American Rugs

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This rug originates from the Wide Ruins, Pine Springs, Burntwater, and Standing Rock region of the Navajo Nation. Early Crystalsused aniline dyes and were richly designed. They were bordered rugs with acentral design woven of natural colors, maybe with a touch of red. After themid-1940s, the borderless, vegetal-dyed designs came into being. The differencebetween the Crystal and the Wide Ruins and Chinle banded design rugs is that bthebands in the Crystal are bordered horizontally by wavy lines which are produced by alternating 2 or 3 different colors of weft stands (side to side foundation cords). Also, the vegetal dyes allow for more extensive use of the natural wool colors.

There is one exception to the additional indicators of price, material and fringe. Gallup throws, which are woven in the Gallup, New Mexico area, are small textiles measuring about 18 by 24 inches. Gallup throws are made with a cotton warp, and the weaving is cut off and knotted, creating a fringe on one side only. Typical prices for these textiles range from $40 to $50, as of publication. The only other authentic Navajo rugs that feature fringe are Germantown rugs. These rare antique rugs have fringe that was added on after the weaving process was completed.

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Here's a Zapotec rug. The fringe is visible at its bottom. This rug is most commonly confused with a Navajo weaving. These rugs have a lot of skill in weaving, as the yarns are often spun and hand-dyed by skilled artisans. There are fewer patterns than what you might see in a typical Navajo piece with the same color choices. I can assist you in identifying textiles at $20-50 per article. Send me information on the textile you would like to learn more about by clicking here. The Eyedazzler would have been used to call the weaver. There may be others who call it a Squash blossom. The top banded rug isn't designed to be used in any specific regional style. Some people might call it a saddle blanket or chief blanket design.

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Hand-spun wool Navajo Rugs will be more expensive than those made in mass production. The wool is more dense and smoother. Tapestries are rugs that have 80 or more threads per inch. A well-made rug should have straight edges and a balanced pattern. As imperfections are added by some weavers, you will notice that the rug isn't uniform. Prices for Navajo rugs depend on the size and provenance of the rug. A small rug will cost you around $100. An older rug that is larger can cost up to $41,600. Large rugs can take between two and three years to weave. The price of antique rugs is usually higher than the cost of contemporary rugs. In fact, Navajo rugs will become more expensive as their provenance increases.

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The price of a Navajo rug is determined by several factors, including the fineness of the yarn, the design, and its size. Traditionally, Navajo rugs were woven on the same simple loom for over 300 years. Their intricate, balanced designs are testimony to the weaver’s skill. Though reproductions are often made in Mexico, they are still recognizable as Navajo rugs. Navajo rug ID begins with the ability to recognize some basic regional characteristics. It is important to remember, however, that every rug, like it's weaver, is an individual.

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The 4 rectangles,one in each corner of the rug, represent the homes of the four winds or thefour sacred mountains of the Navajo world. Zigzag lightning lines connect thesecorners with the center. Colors of the original storm rugs were usually red, black,and white on a natural gray or red background. Today you will find naturalbrowns and vegetal dye colors. There will usually be a dark border which can be embellishedon one side with ‘teeth.’ Clouds, water beetles, arrows, feathers, andgeometric designs are throughout. A pictorial usuallyfeatures items in the daily life of a weaver. There can be landscapes with animals, plants, etc., even tractors. If there are borders, they will usually be dark.

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In the 1870s, licensed Indian Traders began supplying weavers with factory-made yarns brightly colored with aniline (chemical) dyes. Blankets made of these colorful yarns are generically called Germantown weavings after the town in Pennsylvania where much of the yarn was produced. The Navajo returned from Bosque Redondo to a very different world; one increasingly tied to the larger Anglo-American economy and culture. Families quickly rebuilt their sheep herds and resumed production of their own hand-spun yarns, although the Churro sheep had been replaced by American Merino sheep which had shorter, greasier wool that was much harder to clean and spin by hand.

how To Remove Stains from Native American Rugs
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