Rug
ClassificationsTextiles-floor coverings-rugs and mats
Culture
Navajo
Datec. 1911
Made AtNew Mexico, United States, North America
MediumWool and dye
Dimensions58 × 93 in. (147.3 × 236.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dennis Aigner
Object number2022.5.1
DescriptionThis is a Navajo rug which dates to approximately 1911. Use of the swastika was favored at the Crystal and Ganado trading posts between 1890 and 1920 but did appear elsewhere until World War II. Despite its modern connotations, the 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.This rug was made at JB Moore’s Crystal Trading Post in New Mexico. Moore is credited with commercializing the Navajo rugs sold at his post in two mail order catalogs published in 1903 and 1911. These catalogs featured plates of the rugs and designs potential buyers could order. In total, Moore produced 31 plates. Even though the plates allowed customers to choose their designs, Moore made it clear in the catalogs that the plates were only suggestive of the type of rug and designs the customer would receive. This resulted in rugs with many different variations on the original designs published in the plates. This rug is a well-known pattern from plate XXX.
On View
Not on viewCollections
