Skip to main content
Advanced Search
2022.609.7, Navago Weaving
Navajo Double-Woven Saddle Blanket
2022.609.7, Navago Weaving

Navajo Double-Woven Saddle Blanket

Dateca. 1915
OriginAmerica, Navajo Nation
MediumNative handspun wool (fiber identification by eye)
DimensionsOW: 48 × OH: 30 1/2" (121.9 × 77.5cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2022.609.7
DescriptionThis is a rectangular Navajo weaving in the form of a double-woven saddle blanket woven in natural wool shades of white, browns, and greys and aniline dyed red. One side displays an American flag with eleven red stripes and eighteen white stars in the shape of crosses. The other side displays a brown square within a grey square. The blanket is bordered in a geometric design of scrolling white diamonds.
Label TextKnown for their beauty and durability, Navajo saddle blankets are a major part of the material horse culture of the American West. In the 1860s, they replaced sheepskin pads that provided important extra padding under a saddle. The blankets were available at trading post where they were one of the most affordable, and thus popular, Navajo weavings. Pictorial double-woven saddle blankets are rare, even rarer are ones like this example with an American Flag.
ProvenanceNo known provenance.