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The importance of sheep and their wool is evident by the Diné Creation narrative:
…the Deities arranged the world and planned the pattern of the stars in the sky, they first laid out the glittering objects out of sheepskins. The Sun, the father of the war Gods, possessed a flock of sheep in four colors. The Sun gifted many animals and when the sheep were presented, they were embellished with faces made out of dawn, their eyes were configured with rock crystals, their ears were to be foliage, and the wool anointed to be white fog.
Between 1860-1880 large diamond figures appeared on the stripes of the Diné blankets creating a design now referred to as Third Phase. When the manta was wrapped around the wearer, one diamond was in the middle of the back of the wearer and the half diamond shapes on the edges come together in the front and create another diamond.
Exhibition History"Art Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord Dans La Collection D'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions D'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
ProvenanceGift of Gerald Peters, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in honor of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
BibliographyKaufman, Alice and Christopher Selser. The Navajo Weaving Tradition. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1985, p.30,fig.43. Private collection.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.59.
Perriot, Francoise and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts de Indiens d’Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d’ Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris: Somogy editions e’Art. 1999, p. 88, fig. 73.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.236.
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. 256.
Culture
Dine (Navajo)
Blanket
Date1860-1880
DimensionsOverall: 51 × 71 in. (129.5 × 180.3 cm)
Object numberT0124
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextDiné girls learn to weave by observing older women at work. The laborious process involves raising and shearing sheep, then cleaning and carding the wool. Natural and commercial dues are used to color the wool after spinning. The last step, weaving a blanket or a rug, takes place on an upright, fixed loom. Weaving’s cultural value is reinforced by the stories of Spider Woman and Spider Man. She taught Diné women to weave, while he gave Diné men instructions on building looms. Accordingly, men build the looms for their family members, and the women are traditionally the weavers.The importance of sheep and their wool is evident by the Diné Creation narrative:
…the Deities arranged the world and planned the pattern of the stars in the sky, they first laid out the glittering objects out of sheepskins. The Sun, the father of the war Gods, possessed a flock of sheep in four colors. The Sun gifted many animals and when the sheep were presented, they were embellished with faces made out of dawn, their eyes were configured with rock crystals, their ears were to be foliage, and the wool anointed to be white fog.
Between 1860-1880 large diamond figures appeared on the stripes of the Diné blankets creating a design now referred to as Third Phase. When the manta was wrapped around the wearer, one diamond was in the middle of the back of the wearer and the half diamond shapes on the edges come together in the front and create another diamond.
Exhibition History"Art Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord Dans La Collection D'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions D'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
ProvenanceGift of Gerald Peters, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in honor of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
BibliographyKaufman, Alice and Christopher Selser. The Navajo Weaving Tradition. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1985, p.30,fig.43. Private collection.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.59.
Perriot, Francoise and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts de Indiens d’Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d’ Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris: Somogy editions e’Art. 1999, p. 88, fig. 73.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.236.
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. 256.
On View
On view
