IT'S A MYSTERY

A 140- to 150-year-old Navajo transitional blanket may have been intentionally woven to form sacred symbols when folded in certain ways. Or perhaps it’s simply a nice weaving.

- Susan L. Sorg

One thing about art which is always predictable, and that is a person’s reaction to art is never predictable. This is because art, no matter the form, can touch someone’s soul while another person just doesn’t get it. Case in point: a beautiful yet rather unusual Navajo weaving which truly defies predictability on so many levels. To some, it’s intriguing, colorful, and interesting. To others, including the former owners and current owner, this piece holds a hidden message of healing and culture, which they believe is coming through loud and clear.

First, the basic facts, which everyone agrees with: This Navajo blanket is considered late classic/early transitional, likely from the early 1870s, with hand-spun warp threads and hand-carded, hand-spun Churro wool, 79 by 51 inches. The colors, indigo blue, and the red Saxony plied yarn remain brilliant as the very asymmetrical pattern meanders across a white field. It’s also in excellent condition.

Where this blanket was until the 1980s is really not known at this time. That was when it came to the attention of the late Andrew Nagen, who worked in partnership with Ray Dewey, a consultant and collector, and co-founder of Dewey Galleries Ltd & the Santa Fe Gallery Association in Santa Fe. They held it off the market for a few months, keeping it in their private collection, but finally made it available, and it was quickly snatched up.

“This piece was very unusual, and I was sort of tempted to just keep it, because I had never seen anything quite like it,” Dewey remembers. “The use of the amount of indigo in it is interesting, because that’s a very precious, rare dye at that time.”