Burnham Navajo Weaving Rainbow Yei Rug

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Burnham Navajo Weaving Rainbow Yei Rug

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Sold Date: 04/13/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

This spectacular weaving 15"x 19 3/4" is by Laverne Barber of Burnham , New Mexico . Laverne is the daughter of Anna Mae Barber one of sisters that developed the style called "Burnham".

Burnham is relatively close to Two Grey Hills (sometimes misspelled Two Gray Hills ). The Burnham style starts with Two Grey Hills colors of browns, grays, blacks and whites, and often adds more colors. The weavings also usually have pictorial elements in them. For example, note the Rainbow Yei (with white hair) the Sash Belts, the headbands, the turquoise earrings, etc.

The book "Navajo Weaving Today" By Nancy Schiffer, 1991, ISBN 0-88740-319-0, describes the Burnham style as A very recent variation of the Two Grey Hills design has developed a little east of the old post site near Burnham, NM... local weavers .. design pictorial elements into the geometric designs, still with primarily natural wools. The addition of pottery, feathers, the ceremonial Yei figures and flute player Kokopelli, and other pictorial elements give these weavings very distinctive designs .

The book "A Guide to Navajo Weavings" by Kent McManis and Robert Jeff ries, 1997, ISBN 1-887896-07-4, says: It includes many different pictorial elements, such as Ye'ii, thunderbirds, and human figures mixed in with geometric designs. Burnham style textiles usually have backgrounds using the Two Grey Hills color palette and are woven in combinations of natural wool, home-dyed, and commercially dyed colors. The geometric patterns themselves may be asymmetrical, an uncommon feature in Navajo weavings. If you want an example of the different styles in your collection, the Burnham is a must have!

Please click on the "Larger Picture" link to see the bigger pictures.

The Kodak Color Control Patch in the scan provides a baseline for the color correction for your monitor so you can best judge the colors in the weaving. We counted at least an amazing 13 different colors of wool in this weaving (beige, black, brown, brown oatmeal, cocoa, cream, dark gray, gray, green, light taupe, mustard, turquoise and wine). The scanner colors are truer than those taken with the camera which has a combination of natural, artificial and flash lighting.

The fineness of a weave is often judged by the warp and weft count. Since Navajo (Navaho) Weavings are hand made and unique, the weft count can vary with different colors (thread thickness) and different parts of the weaving. I try to pick a color that is easy on my eyes to count, and somew near the middle of the rug. I count a warp of 10 per inch and a weft, on one side of the rug, of about 30 per inch. Note that many sellers report the much more impressive sounding doubled ("both sides of the weaving") count of 60. It is a very densely packed tight weave, typical of the quality of Laverne's work.

The four corner tassels are intact on this mint condition, new weaving. As an added sign of a quality weaving, this rug has a woven in side selvedge.

If you have any questions, or want more images of the weaving, please email.

Please, serious bidders only. This, like all the weavings I sell, is a high quality weaving. I bought this weaving at auction, w almost all the proceeds go to the weaver. I have NO intent to sell this at a loss. Please keep that in mind in your bidding.

Buyer pays for shipping by US Priority Mail including insurance. I don't charge any of those annoying handling fees. Arizona residents must add 7.95% sales tax. Personal checks may be held for clearance. International Bidders please email before bidding.

Please review the positive feed back of buyers of my weaving offerings:

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Please view the weavings in my eBay store /Navajo-Weavings , and look for new auction listings every Thursday evening. Many different patterns will be represented including Storm, Yei, Raised Outline, Sandpainting (Sand Painting), Two Grey Hills...