Burnham Navajo Weaving Rug 17 Colors

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Burnham Navajo Weaving Rug 17 Colors

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Sold Date: 09/19/2007
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

This spectacular weaving 15"x 28" is by Ursula Begay of Burnham , New Mexico . It is the style called "Burnham Weavings" that was developed by Ursula's mother Sandy and her sisters. While others are now trying to copy the style, the family still does it the best. I obtained this weaving at auction and hence am able to offer it at a price far below what they usually sell for.

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!

This family raises their own Churro sheep, and hand dye many of the colors in the weavings. For example, many of the shades of brown come from black walnut hulls. They also re-spin the wool to make it finer.

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 17 different colors of wool in this weaving (black, blue, brown, chocolate brown, cocoa, cream, forest green, gray, maroon, mustard, navy blue, orange, pumpkin, purple, red, tan and turquoise). The scanner colors are truer than those taken with the camera which has a combination of natural, artificial and flash lighting.

Ursula is probably the master " colorist" of the family , using the most different colors of wool in her weavings .

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 13 per inch and a weft, on one side of the rug, of about 37 per inch. Note that many sellers report the much more impressive sounding doubled ("both sides of the weaving") count of 74. An extremely fine weave which obviously takes far more time to weave and has the weaver rightly demanding a higher price.

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. Note the masterful work in the detail of the side and edge finishing.

If you have any questions, or want more images of the weaving, please email. Please read my eBay "About Me" page.

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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.

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