Blanket

Date1840-1860

MediumWool, white (natural), wool, indigo (dyed), Wool, brown (natural), wool, brown, brown enhanced with Diné organic black dye

DimensionsOverall: 48 × 64 in. (121.9 × 162.6 cm)

Object numberT0122

Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label Text The Dine learned weaving from the Pueblos about 1700 and they still use the traditional pueblo upright loom. Their earliest wool mantas, or shoulder blankets, were white or gray with broad horizontal stripes of black and/or indigo blue (c.f. Wheat and Mera 1978, p.33; Wheat 1976, p.21). They were traded widely, but were especially so prized by the Ute Indians that they became known as Ute blankets. These mantas were the first step in the development of a style that has come to be known as Chief's Blankets. Although the Dine have no "chiefs," the blankets were items of great prestige and very widely traded with Plains tribes where the name may have evolved. Mantas were essential items of clothing for both men and women. Like Pueblo mantas they are wider than long and the decorative stripes and weft elements run the width of the garment. They are soft and warm and woven with fine wool yarn. This Phase I "Chief's Blanket" is woven with bands of local white, brown, black, and blue handspun yarns. The white and brown tones come from natural sheep colors, the black is colored with dye made from natural materials, and the blue is dyed with indigo Dine peoples imported from Mexico. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenanceGerald Peters, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Juan Hamilton, Abiquiu, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.58.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.233.

Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 254.

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