Navajo Saddle Blankets: Textiles to Ride in the American West

Coulter, Lane (editor)

ISBN 10: 0890134065 / ISBN 13: 9780890134061

Published by Museum of New Mexico Press, 2002

About this Item

Over-sized hardbound ( quarto). First Edition: the printing numerals area full line beginning with 1. AS NEW. No wear to the binding. No slope, no twist, no distortion from reading or improper shelving. Pages are tight and clean with no marks. No name of previous owner. No musty odor. No tobacco odor. No water stains. No soiling. The as new dust jacket shows no edge wear, no sun fading. DJ in an archival protector.

Seller Inventory # MP26-746Z

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Navajo Saddle Blankets: Textiles to Ride in the American West
• Publisher: Museum of New Mexico Press
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0890134065
• ISBN 13: 9780890134061
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art

About this title

Synopsis

Navajo saddle blankets are among the most under appreciated art forms in the American Southwest, the Cinderella of Navajo textiles. Both maker and user generally have seen them as utilitarian objects to be worn out and discarded. As a result, we do not adequately appreciate them as an art form within the Navajo weaving tradition. By the same token, we tend to ignore designs and weaving techniques that are particular to saddle blankets, for this is the area where double weaves, the two-faced, the tufted angoras, and especially the twills come into their own. And finally, we miss the lively interaction of this form of textile with the great cowboy culture of the West.

Reviews

Utilitarian items are frequently overlooked by collectors, but they often have a beauty of their own. So it is with Navajo saddle blankets, used until they wore out by Native Americans, cowboys, ranchers, and Mexican vaqueros, then shipped east for back-to-nature decor as throw rugs. The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in New Mexico, which has an extensive collection of these saddle blankets, has drawn together not only illustrations of their holdings but also many essays on the history of rug weaving and trading posts dealing in blankets, cowboy life, weaving methods, and more. Since the essays are written by a variety of contributors, including curators, Navajo weavers, and historians, there is some overlap, but mostly this is fresh and interesting information. The brief description of the Navajo loom and weaving setup is the best since books from the 1930s, and the vibrant illustrations (85 color, 30 black-and-white) show the development and change in weaving styles from the pre-Bosque Redondo period to the present. Simple and humble, yet complex in conception and execution, these worn and respected blankets obviously did a lot more than comfort and protect a horse's hide. A good buy for most larger collections.-Gay Neale, formerly with Southside Virginia Community Coll. Lib., Alberta Nickerson, Jackie. Farm.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.