Antique Navajo Yei

Navajo rug flat woven rug tapestry beige Measures: 4' x6' (3'11" x 5'7") 119cm x 170cm Circa 1920 "The woolen rug has a white background color on which are three stylized figures on each side of a center cornstalk. All are surrounded on three sides by a "guardian "figure - one side is the head and the body - the other side are the legs. The rug is a Navajo Yei rug. All the figures are holding prayer sticks; there are feathers attached to the elbows of the figures in a vertical line. The colors of the rug are white, red, maroon, blue, tan, brown, grey, orange, rust and gold. The most common type of Navajo Yei rug are those with a white background color. Navajo Yei rugs were made at Lukachukai or in the Shiprock area or even Ganado. It is a fact that a Navajo Yei rug with many Yei figures and many colors will garner the highest value. While Yei rugs are technically woven for the floor, they were often placed on couches, or hung on the wall like paintings, few actually touched the ground. The Yei figure is a frequently used pattern in Navajo rugs. Male Yei figures are generally pictured with round heads, and female Yei figures with square heads. Modern Yei rugs are more often pictorial compositions, showing a row of front-facing stylized stick figures with a Rainbow Guardian which protects the figures on three sides, indicating the sand painting roots of this particular style. The Yei rug portrays ceremonies on a desire for healing, not only physical health, but also mental, spiritual, and even material well-being. The "Holy People...

This vintage Native American Navajo Yei rug, woven in the mid-1900s, features a powerful and visually captivating design with five Yei deity figures standing side-by-side. Set agains...