On my November 8th blog I told you about the Navaho Rugs that I had purchased in the 1970‘s when I was working at the Indianapolis Goodwill Store as a conscientious objector. I was always curious about them, wondering about where exactly they were made and maybe their value. During our 1996 road trip through Arizona, we had stopped at various Native Trading Posts, hoping to get some information about my rugs which I had Polaroid photos of. Finally I found a place that gave me some answers. From my diary:
The next day we travelled on to Cortez, Colorado, where we stopped at a really spectacular trading post called Notah Dineh dedicated to selling an amazing array of genuine Indian art from the Four Corners Area. They had rugs, jewelry, pottery and paintings, all of which were of the highest quality and very expensive. The number of Navaho rugs they had was overwhelming. Here is a link to the trading post: notah dineh cortez co (Select “Images” on the site to see all of the amazing things they carry.)
I whipped out the Polaroids of my Navaho rugs and finally was finally able to get some specific information about them from the knowledgable salesman. He commented that they were really nice rugs, probably made in the area around Ganado, Arizona. He thought most of them were woven before 1930, the one immediately below, which is thicker and has a looser weave and features the “whirling logs” (swastikas) symbol, was probably woven between 1900 and 1910. He said a general price for the rugs would be $75/sq. ft..
Some days later we drove on to Ganado, where my rugs were made. There we stopped at the Hubbell Trading Post which is one of the old historic Trading Posts. I showed the guy there my Polaroids, and he confirmed that the old one was 1900-1910 and said my others were pre-1930. He said I had some really nice ones and he especially liked the ones with crosses and wedges. He had a big pile of old blankets and some of the ones from the 1900 -1910 era. They were priced at $3000-$7,000. (in 1996).
I was very happy to finally get some information about my Goodwill rugs.
Below are some photos of my Navaho rugs:
View my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
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