The Dr. Samuel R. Poliakoff Collection of Western Art

Navajo weaving has deep historic roots as a dynamic, evolving practice. It has always been a valuable trade item with other Native peoples— Navajo blankets were widely worn throughout Native North America in the nineteenth century. Beginning in the 1890s non-Native traders intervened helping guide weavers in creating new styles that would be more appealing to non-Native buyers. The 1930s development of the Wide Ruins style as seen in this blanket, emphasized the use of muted natural plant dyes, banded designs, and no borders to evoke earlier eras of Navajo weaving.