Mexican imitation Navajo rugs have wider end borders than a true Navajo rug. Side borders are sometimes wider. If there is fringe at either end that extends the warps of the rug, it may not be a genuine Navajo Rug. Wool can be used to make a Navajo rug. There are a handful of authentic Navajo rugs made from synthetic materials such acrylic. You might be able to identify it as a Navajo woman weaving a cheap knock-off. In such cases, it does not matter if it's real or not. Although the imitations may be made with wool, some fakes are made using polyester. Some fakes made from Pakistan or India use a blend or acrylic of wool and polyester.
To aid in Navajo rug ID, there are certain ones that can be identified by their distinctive colors, others by the bands of color and the designs within those bands, and certain others by their distinctive designs. The Ganadoand Klagetoh tend to have simpler designs than the similar Two Grey Hills, and Burntwater rugs. Ganado rugs always have a red background. The distinctivered color is often called a ‘Ganado Red.’ The design, based on a centraldiamond or two, will be in black, white, and grey in the center of the field.
The impetus behind this trend came primarily from Anglo collectors, traders, and government agencies that had a sincere desire to upgrade the quality of Navajo weaving and return to traditional, pre-rug patterns. The resulting rugs were not literal copies of older pieces, but were creative variations on banded designs using a wide palette of newly developed vegetal dye colors made from indigenous plants, as well as new, subtly colored chemical dyes. Mary Cabot Wheelwright, founder of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, probably started the “vegetal revival” by providing weavers around Chinle, Arizona with the new dyes and sketches of old weavings.
Indian Rugs for SaleThese rugs were not made for survival by the Navajos before the 15th Century. These rugs have become one of the most important decorative items in households. The Navajo rugs are luxurious and costly because of a variety of factors. Here are some common reasons why these rugs are so expensive. Contrary to other types, weaving rugs is more difficult than the others. These rugs use handlooms, which can be operated manually. Back then, weavers set up their weaving looms between two trees. Nowadays, weavers use poles rather than trees. They sit on small tools or on the floor while weaving on their looms. For a perfect base design, weavers often overlap the threads multiple times. Then they add layers of other designs. They are commonly known for their distinctive patterns, which allow people to recognize the rugs. You can clearly tell the difference between Navajo rugs and other types of rugs if you look at the wool and fabric. Hand-spun wool was made by the Navajos from their own sheep to be used on the rugs. They used Saxony, a silky, naturally tinted yarn.These rugs are made with all-natural ingredients, which guarantees the high quality of the Navajo rugs. It was also hard to spin these wools, making them so costly because of the tedious work and effort required by the weavers. Unique designs made the Navajo rugs unique and special.
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.
Weavers frequently outlined the small serrated patterns with a single yarn of contrasting color to heighten the visual complexity and impact. This patterning technique became known as the Eyedazzler and continues to be popular to the present day. Both the banded and diamond pattern homespun blankets of the late 19th century are generically known as Transitional Blankets because they signaled the end of Navajo blanket production and ushered in the era of the Navajo rug. By the 1890s, the internal demand for Navajo weaving was almost non-existent. To make matters worse a widespread financial panic seized the US economy in 1893, depressing commodity prices for the raw wool that had come to replace weavings as the Navajo’s primary trade item.