A survey of Navajo pictorial weaving which comprises over 170 examples selected from hundreds in museum and private collections as well as from major dealers in the field.

Back in print, expanded, and revised, the second edition of Navajo Pictorial Weaving is devoted to all categories of antique Navajo pictorial weaving. The second edition includes 92 new images of weavings discovered in the last three decades, many never before published or exhibited. Through these nearly 300 photos and short texts, both the novice and advanced collector can reach a better understanding of the enigmatic and unusual body of Navajo pictorial weaving. Also featured is a one-of-a-kind comprehensive chart of the Navajo ceremonial system. Offering the newest discoveries, this treasury reemphasizes that Navajo pictorial weaving is a truly American folk art. Significant pictorials are organized into eight chapters covering all major categories, including these and many others: "Birds, Flora, Fauna & Livestock," "Transportation, Technology, the Railroad and Its Influence," "Yeis, Yeibichais, and Corn Yeis," and "Kachinas, Masks, and Images from the Hopi."

According to the Navajos, the holy people Spider Man and Spider Woman first brought the tools for weaving to the People. Over the centuries Navajo artists have used those tools to weave a web of beauty—a rich tradition that continues to the present day. In testimony to this living art form, this book presents 74 dazzling color plates of Navajo rugs and wall hangings woven between 1971 and 1996. Drawn from a private southwestern collection, they represent the work of sixty of the finest native weavers in the American Southwest. The creations depicted here reflect a number of styles—revival, sandpainting, pictorial, miniature, sampler—and a number of major regional variations, from Ganado to Teec Nos Pos. Textile authority Ann Hedlund provides an introductory narrative about the development of Navajo textile collecting—including the shift of attention from artifacts to art—and a brief review of the history of Navajo weaving. She then comments on the shaping of the particular collection represented in the book, offering a rich source of knowledge and insight for other collectors. Explaining themes in Navajo weaving over the quarter-century represented by the Santa Fe Collection, Hedlund focuses on the development of modern rug designs and the influence on weavers of family, community, artistic identity, and the marketplace. She also introduces each section of plates with a description of the representative style, its significance, and the weavers who perpetuate and deviate from it. In addition to the textile plates, Hedlund’s color photographs show the families, landscapes, livestock, hogans, and looms that surround today’s Navajo weavers. Navajo Weaving in the Late Twentieth Century explores many of the important connections that exist today among weavers through their families and neighbors, and the significant role that collectors play in perpetuating this dynamic art form. For all who appreciate American Indian art and culture, this book provides invaluable guidance to the fine points of collecting and a rich visual feast.

Debunks the romanticist stereotyping of Navajo weavers and Reservation traders and situates weavers within the economic history of the southwest.

Navajo Weaving traces this art from about 1650, when loom processes were learned from the Pueblo Indians, to the present day of regional styles and commercial markets. Kent discusses history, styles, and methods used in Navajo weaving, observing changes in yarns, dyes, designs, and types of textiles resulting from trade with Spaniards, Mexicans, and Anglo-Americans.Kate Peck Kent was professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Denver, a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a resident scholar at the School of American Research. Dr. Kent has also written Pueblo Indian Textiles and Spanish-American Blanketry.