The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Fourth-Phase Chief Blanket Style Rug
c. 1900
Overall: 178.4 x 151.1 cm (70 1/4 x 59 1/2 in.)
Gift of Amelia Elizabeth White 1937.903
Location: not on view
Description
This rug is modeled on a coveted Diné (Navajo) garment type—a waterproof blanket worn around the shoulders. By the late 1700s, other Natives traded avidly for such blankets, which are classified according to design phases and known as “chief’s blankets,” a misnomer since the Diné have no chiefs. In the late 1800s, old Indigenous trade outlets collapsed, especially after the disastrous imprisonment of the Diné at Bosque Redondo in the 1860s. Responding to the dramatically transformed landscape in the aftermath, Diné weavers began to shift from making garments for Indigenous use, including trade, to creating items for the outside collectors’ market, such as rugs like this one.- -1937Amelia Elizabeth White (1878–1972), New York, NY, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art1937-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Native North American Textiles and Works on Paper (Gallery 231 rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 9, 2022-December 3, 2023).Gallery 231 - Native North American Textile Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 3, 2015-August 29, 2016).Art of the First Nations. Mansfield Arts Center, Mansfield, OH (March 7-April 4, 1993).
- {{cite web|title=Fourth-Phase Chief Blanket Style Rug|url=false|author=|year=c. 1900|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1937.903