Antique 1850s Mesoamerican Saltillo Serape Transitional Mounted Textile

Antique circa 1880 Rio Grande Saltillo Sarape, hand woven of Germantown yarns in colors of red, green, golden yellow, blue, and white in a diamond pattern, fringed at either end. Ready to hang on the wall with custom velcro mount (fully removable). The Rio Grande style of serape developed in the Southwestern United States in present day New Mexico and was inspired by Mexican Saltillo Serapes...

Navajo Area Rug, Two Gray Hills, Trading Post Era weaving made of wool , measures 81 ¾ x 46 ¾ inches. This textile is well suited for use on the floor a...

Navajo Double Saddle Blanket, circa 1900. R.B. 71211 woven on front top half. Weaving measures 47 x 23 ¼ inches.

Large vintage Navajo Area Rug weaving from the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, Arizona (Southwestern United States). Woven of native hand-spun woo...

Vintage circa 1930 Navajo Trading Post Rug from Chinle, Arizona. Woven of native handspun wool in natural fleece colors of ivory (white) and brown with aniline dyed blue, red and yel...

A parfleche container in an envelope form, finely painted in an abstract design. Makes a stunning wall hanging alone or in a grouping with other parfleche or can be placed on a shelf or Stand. This was created by a North American Indian living in the Plateau cultural area - encompassing portions of what is now northern Idaho, western Montana, northeast and central Oregon, eastern Washington and southeast British Columbia. The tribes from this region include Kalispel, Flathead, Kutenai, Palus, Coeur D'Alene and Nez Perce. Parfleches are rawhide containers which were fundamental to the Plains way of life. Functioning essentially as protective travelling suitcases, they enabled the nomadic tribes to effectively pursue buffalo herds and migrate between seasonal camps. So critical were they to a nomadic existence that over 40 tribes are known to have historically produced parfleches. Collectively, these tribes inhabited an area which encompassed the entirety of the Plains, as well as the parts of the Southwest, the Transmontane and Western Plateau regions. Parfleches were, out of necessity, robust and versatile objects. They were designed to carry and protect within them anything from medicinal bundles to seasonal clothing or food. In fact, it was because of the containers’ robusticity and variety that parfleches earned their name in the Anglo world. Derived from parer (to parry or turn aside) and fleche (arrow), the word parfleche was coined by 17th century French Canadian voyageurs and used to describe indigenous objects made from rawhide. Despite their common utilitarian function, parfleches served as one of the major mediums through which Plains Indian tribes could develop their long-standing tradition of painting. In fact, it is in large part due to the parfleche that tribal style emerged. Even though parfleche painting developed simultaneously with beading and weaving, painting as an artistic tradition held particular importance in tribal culture. Believed to have evolved from tattooing, it had always been used as a conduit through which tribal and individual identity could be expressed. As such, many tribeswomen were deeply committed, some even religiously, to decorating their parfleche either with incised or painted motifs that were significant to them and/or the tribe. For some tribes, such as the Cheyenne, the decorative processes which surrounded parfleche production were sacred. For others, it seems that their parfleche designs shared an interesting artistic dialogue with their beadwork, indicating a more casual exchange of design motifs. This particular relationship can be seen in Crow parfleche...

Classical Navajo transition serape tied on fringe both ends, stacked white diamonds with blue dark brown centers and bands. 4' x 6'8" Period: circ...

Circa 1890 Navajo weaving with a very elegant and modern design. Nice mottling of the natural colors, especially in the reds. This is a very bold weaving,...

A highly decorative 20th-century American Navajo rug with a geometric tribal design with pink, cream ,camel and brown accents Measures: 3'5'' x 6'2''.

A highly decorative 20th-century American Navajo rug with a geometric tribal design Measures: 3'2'' x 4'10''.

Circa 1890 Navajo weaving with a very elegant and modern design. Nice mottling of the natural colors, especially in the reds. This is a very bold weaving. This weaving is in good as ...

An early 20th Century American Navajo tribal blanket weaving Details rug no. j3611 size 3' x 4' 10" (91 x 147 cm)