Description:
This woven Navajo wool rug is composed of a natural white wool background and alternating zig zag bands of aniline dyed red, aniline dyed orange, and naturally dyed brown diamonds. This pattern shows on both sides of the rug. Aniline dyes, producing vibrant colors that did not easily fade, became popular in the late 1880s, when the detailed "Germantown Eyedazzler" weaving pattern (consisting of fine diamonds and zigzags, rather than geometrics or horizontal bands) also originated. The rug exhibits both of these characteristics. The Germantown Eyedazzler patterns, now associated with Navajo weaving, were named after Germantown yarn--a thin type of expensive yarn that, when it became available, was used by only the best Navajo weavers. Orange aniline dyed wool (known as "trading post orange") was common in the 1930s, though the color was adopted long before then. AP2018

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+1977.33.10

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