Chinle and Wide Ruins Areas Weavings
The Chinle area at the mouth of Canyon de Chelley has been the site of a number of trading posts, beginning with a tent in 1882, including J. L. Hubbell's "castle" in 1900, and finally settling with the Thunderbird Lodge.
The traders of the 1930's, Leon McSparron and his wife, experimented with vegetal dyes, which inspired the local weavers to revive the designs of the Classic Period of the early 1800's. Today, pastel commercial dyes are often used either solely or along with the natural vegetal dyes.
The Wide Ruins trading center is located east of Route 191 in the hill country of the southeast corner of the Navajo Reservation. The style is very similar to the Chinle, but generally consist of 100 percent vegetal dyes.
Pine Springs is just northeast of Burntwater, and is very similar to Wide Ruins. |  | |
From the 1930's this weaving is an excellent example of an early Chinle style. The turquoise is an excellent element in this weaving. It measures 49 inches by 66 inches.
Mae Morgan's handspun wool weavings are a treat. They are great for accent or to be a main focal point as a wall hanging. This rug measures 32 inches by 23 inches.
Mae Morgan is a wonderful weaver. She uses wool from her own sheep and spins it and dyes it with vegetal dyes. This piece as well as her other pieces measure 32 inches by 12 inches.
This soft weaving is well made and tightly woven. The fine lines of this weaving makes this a desirable weaving. The size of this is 36 inches x 60 inches.
Woven in 1978, the natural colors in this weaving are beautiful. The typical style of the borderless Wide Ruins gives the illusion of being a larger weaving that it actually is. This weaving measures 51 x 38 inches.
The natural dyes and handspun wool of this weaving are beautiful. The size of this weaving is 37 inches by 62 inches.
Vegetal dyes and handspun wool. The green is a beautiful color. This weaving measures 62 x 37 inches.
1955 Gallup Ceremonial Blue Ribbon Winner. This is an amazing weaving made of vegetal dyed yarns. The mustard color is rabbit brush and the pink is cactus. 100 x 76 inches are the dimensions of this piece.
The colors in this weaving are very pretty and unusual. The blue and pinks are lovely. It is a nice medium size which would be great on the floor or wall. This piece measures 40 X 70 inches.
Exquiste hand spun Churro wool in soft pastels and with a combination design of Yei in a Wide Ruin style weaving. Measures close to 4 1/2 by 2 1/2 feet. Condition is like new.
When Mae Morgan entered the gallery to sell this rug she was accompanied by her daughters Rosita and Michelle. Her handspun and naturally dyed wool weavings are excellent examples of the Navajo tradition of weaving.
Featured is a 1960's vegetal dyed Navajo rug. A very pretty Wide Ruins weaving, all in soothing, soft colors, including a nice, delicate teal, much like the old style pieces. This one is valued at $1,500.
Award winning Navajo weaver Eleanor Roanhorse, has been actively weaving fine Wide Ruins style rugs since the 1960's. She is well known for the quality of her rugs with weft counts of up to 80 per inch. This weaving is a gorgeous vegetal dye in shades of Ocher,cream and taupe.
A fine example of the Chinle style Navajo weaving, this textile measures 50 inches by 36 1/2 inches wide. Perfect for a fabric accessory on the furniture or the wall. The subtle vegetal colorations and finely spun wool make for the classic Chinle weaving.
Here is a beautifully-woven piece from the Chinle area of the Navajo reservation. It is 36 inches by 59 inches.
Rare color to find is a Navajo weaving in shades of blues and greens. Elsie weaves sophisticated color combination's. Shown is a beautiful weaving from the Chinle area by master weaver, Elsie Bia. This weaving is 51 inches by 70 inches.
This is a beautiful "Wide Ruins" style Vegetal dyed rug has soft colors of salmon, mustard, sage green, grey and cream. This traditional weaving measures 32" by 42" and has a great feel, from the hand spun wool.
Large handspun Chinle weaving is done by Mary Yazzie in vegetal and natural dyes in golds, grays and browns. This wonderful Navajo Weaving measures 60" x 93", close to five feet by eight feet.
