GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Navajo weaving, performed by women with upright looms, is the most distinguished of modern southwestern textile traditions. During the 19th century, the wearing blanket of the Classic period (1800–1864/8 CE) evolved into the rug that encouraged the survival of the tradition into the 20th century. Synthetic aniline dyes simplified the process of achieving color and expanded the range of hues, and machine‑spun yarn from Germantown, Pennsylvania, offered consistent diameter and commercial colors. Use of the new yarn in bolder, more complex geometric compositions produced “eye‑dazzlers,” textiles with an intense interaction of color. Whether this textile was intended as a blanket or a rug is uncertain. It is larger than most wearing blankets, and the addition of fringe and tassels is unusual, yet it seems too thin to have functioned as a rug. This is a quintessential Transitional period textile—one that might be best described as having been woven as a work of art.
Excerpt from
Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Eye-Dazzler Blanket (2008.40)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 55.
NOTES
- Navajo (Diné), c. 1890 (noted on TMS), updated by KJones on 12/31/13, 12/11/15, and 03/30/16.
- Fun Facts Source: TMS, Notes/Text Entries, Attribution, data entered by Natalie Davis, 08/06/1992.
Cultures
Navajo: AAT: 300017740
Southwestern North American styles (Pre-Columbian): AAT: 300016920
Geography
Arizona (state): TGN: 7006451
Southwest (general region): TGN: 4010660
Process/materials
textiles (visual works): AAT: 300014063
textile materials: AAT: 300231565
weaving: AAT: 300053642
embroidering: AAT: 300053653
warp: AAT: 300227930
weft: AAT: 300227934
cotton (fiber): AAT: 300183670
wool (textile): AAT: 300243430
wool (hair material): AAT: 300014074
aniline dye (synthetic dye): AAT: 300013094
Germantown (neighborhood): TGN: 7014057
Germantown commercial wool yarn (textile materials): DMA
looms (textile tools): AAT: 300247546
s-spun or s-plied (s-twist/yarn by form of twist): AAT: 300227890
tassel (trimming): AAT: 300232185
fringe (trimming): AAT: 300227830
tapestry (process): AAT: 300061981
slit tapestry (process): AAT: 300228522
dovetailed tapestry (process): AAT: 300228510
dovetail join (textile weaving processes and techniques): DMA
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
textile art (visual works): AAT: 300386843
folk art (traditional art): AAT: 300056487
blankets (poncho / manga / q'uul (kul) / coverings): AAT: 300197367
trade blankets: AAT: 300197382
eye-dazzler blanket (Navajo wearing blankets): DMA
orange (color): AAT: 300126734
red (color): AAAT: 300126225
brown (color): AAT: 300127490
yellow (color): AAT: 300127794
green (color): AAT: 300128438
white (color): AAT: 300129784
ochre (color): AAT: 300266267
gray (color): AAT: 300130811
blue (color): AAT: 300129361
pink (color): AAT: 300124707
purple (color): AAT: 300130257
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213
geometric shape: AAT: 300263819
zigzags (geometric patterns): AAT: 300165028
diamonds (motifs): AAT: 300009791
diagonal: AAT: 300010276
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
bands (decorative): DMA
linear forms: AAT: 300234452
trade (function): AAT: 300061886
rectangles (parallelograms): AAT: 300055636
sarapes (Spanish-American wearing blankets): AAT: 300197435
contrast: AAT: 300260079
optical concepts (physics / physical sciences concepts): AAT: 300237919
optical properties: AAT: 300056210
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Herbert Rogers, Dallas [1], [2]
n.d.: Andrew Nagen, purchased from the above [1], [2]
Until 1989: Mark Winter, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, purchased from the above [1], [2], [3], [4]
1989-1990: Shango Galleries (John A. Buxton), Dallas, purchased from the above [1], [2], [3], [4]
From 1990: Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund and gifts from The Eugene McDermott Foundation, Silas R. Mountsier III, and an anonymous donor, purchased from Shango Galleries, Dallas (John A. Buxton) [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]
[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from Mark Winter (dated June 06, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[3] The main source for this provenance is memo from Carol Robbins, Curator of Textiles and New World Cultures (dated August 18, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[4] The main source for this provenance is memo from Carol Robbins, Curator of Textiles and New World Cultures (dated August 28, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[5] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated March 27, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Named on "American Indian and Northwest Coast Top Ten List" (August 6, 1992), Steven A. LeBlanc, former curator at the Southwest Museum at Los Angeles.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1990.229
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
Navajo weaving, performed by women with upright looms, is the most distinguished of modern southwestern textile traditions. During the 19th century, the wearing blanket of the Classic period (1800–1864/8 CE) evolved into the rug that encouraged the survival of the tradition into the 20th century. Synthetic aniline dyes simplified the process of achieving color and expanded the range of hues, and machine‑spun yarn from Germantown, Pennsylvania, offered consistent diameter and commercial colors. Use of the new yarn in bolder, more complex geometric compositions produced “eye‑dazzlers,” textiles with an intense interaction of color. Whether this textile was intended as a blanket or a rug is uncertain. It is larger than most wearing blankets, and the addition of fringe and tassels is unusual, yet it seems too thin to have functioned as a rug. This is a quintessential Transitional period textile—one that might be best described as having been woven as a work of art.
Excerpt from
Bonnie Pitman, ed., "Eye-Dazzler Blanket (2008.40)," in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012), 55.
Fun Facts
- Named on "American Indian and Northwest Coast Top Ten List" (August 6, 1992), Steven A. LeBlanc, former curator at the Southwest Museum at Los Angeles.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
- Navajo (Diné), c. 1890 (noted on TMS), updated by KJones on 12/31/13, 12/11/15, and 03/30/16.
- Fun Facts Source: TMS, Notes/Text Entries, Attribution, data entered by Natalie Davis, 08/06/1992.
Cultures
Navajo: AAT: 300017740
Southwestern North American styles (Pre-Columbian): AAT: 300016920
Geography
Arizona (state): TGN: 7006451
Southwest (general region): TGN: 4010660
Process/materials
textiles (visual works): AAT: 300014063
textile materials: AAT: 300231565
weaving: AAT: 300053642
embroidering: AAT: 300053653
warp: AAT: 300227930
weft: AAT: 300227934
cotton (fiber): AAT: 300183670
wool (textile): AAT: 300243430
wool (hair material): AAT: 300014074
aniline dye (synthetic dye): AAT: 300013094
Germantown (neighborhood): TGN: 7014057
Germantown commercial wool yarn (textile materials): DMA
looms (textile tools): AAT: 300247546
s-spun or s-plied (s-twist/yarn by form of twist): AAT: 300227890
tassel (trimming): AAT: 300232185
fringe (trimming): AAT: 300227830
tapestry (process): AAT: 300061981
slit tapestry (process): AAT: 300228522
dovetailed tapestry (process): AAT: 300228510
dovetail join (textile weaving processes and techniques): DMA
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
textile art (visual works): AAT: 300386843
folk art (traditional art): AAT: 300056487
blankets (poncho / manga / q'uul (kul) / coverings): AAT: 300197367
trade blankets: AAT: 300197382
eye-dazzler blanket (Navajo wearing blankets): DMA
orange (color): AAT: 300126734
red (color): AAAT: 300126225
brown (color): AAT: 300127490
yellow (color): AAT: 300127794
green (color): AAT: 300128438
white (color): AAT: 300129784
ochre (color): AAT: 300266267
gray (color): AAT: 300130811
blue (color): AAT: 300129361
pink (color): AAT: 300124707
purple (color): AAT: 300130257
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
geometric patterns: AAT: 300165213
geometric shape: AAT: 300263819
zigzags (geometric patterns): AAT: 300165028
diamonds (motifs): AAT: 300009791
diagonal: AAT: 300010276
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
bands (decorative): DMA
linear forms: AAT: 300234452
trade (function): AAT: 300061886
rectangles (parallelograms): AAT: 300055636
sarapes (Spanish-American wearing blankets): AAT: 300197435
contrast: AAT: 300260079
optical concepts (physics / physical sciences concepts): AAT: 300237919
optical properties: AAT: 300056210
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
n.d.: Herbert Rogers, Dallas [1], [2]
n.d.: Andrew Nagen, purchased from the above [1], [2]
Until 1989: Mark Winter, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, purchased from the above [1], [2], [3], [4]
1989-1990: Shango Galleries (John A. Buxton), Dallas, purchased from the above [1], [2], [3], [4]
From 1990: Dallas Museum of Art, Textile Purchase Fund and gifts from The Eugene McDermott Foundation, Silas R. Mountsier III, and an anonymous donor, purchased from Shango Galleries, Dallas (John A. Buxton) [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]
[1] The main source for this provenance is existing information in TMS. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from Mark Winter (dated June 06, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[3] The main source for this provenance is memo from Carol Robbins, Curator of Textiles and New World Cultures (dated August 18, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[4] The main source for this provenance is memo from Carol Robbins, Curator of Textiles and New World Cultures (dated August 28, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[5] The main source for this provenance is Acquisition Record (dated March 27, 1990, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1990.229
source file
object_notes_3_a-0588.xml.nores