Rug
ClassificationsTextiles-floor coverings-rugs and mats
Culture
Navajo
Datec. 1920
Made AtArizona, United States, North America
MediumWool and vegetal dye
Dimensions72 × 63 × 1 1/2 in. (182.9 × 160 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dennis J. Aigner
Object number2013.22.1
DescriptionNavajo rug in the Early Crystal Trading Post regional style made c. 1920. Woven of hand spun wool warp and weft. Carded gray, natural white and brown, and vegetal dyed medium brown wool. With eight whirling log or swastika motifs and serrated border Striking use of carded gray wool and lazy lines which create beackground to foreground interplay and depth.Despite its modern connotations, the swastika motif has been an auspicious symbol for at least thousands of years. For the Navajo, it was a figurative representation of the ‘whirling logs,’ a commonly depicted sand painting from the Night Chant and together with an axis with two legs—where the swastika instead has four—forms a visual pun of the Navajo mantra, “successfully attaining a ripe old age by daily spiritual renewal according to the universal beauty of the cosmos.” Its use in Navajo textiles was probably more inspired by the introduction of the Asiatic motif by Western traders.
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