Cute Native American Art

John and I are Antiques Roadshow fans. I like the stories behind small artifacts in people’s lives; he likes to make fun of how the “jackpot” winners pretend that they are not going to immediately sell their grandmother’s vase that they had always thought was ugly anyway.

The finds on AR are often ugly, or beautiful, or confusing—they’re rarely cute, like this neat-o 1920s Navajo rug featured on last week’s show.

navajorug1

I love the geometric shapes and the simplicity of the figures—especially the minimalist faces.

navajorug2

As I was oohing and ahhing over it, the appraiser mentioned that the Navajo were reluctant to make these kinds of weavings for commercial purposes because they contained religious motifs. That made me think twice about getting too inspired by it, except in a general way. There’s something a little uncomfortable about the thought of using a motif because you think it’s cute and pretty when it has sacred meanings to a group of people. I think it’s unlikely that I would unintentionally cross this kind of line, but it’s interesting to think about nevertheless.

By the way, the rug ended up being worth between three and five thousand dollars. It’s not getting stepped on anytime soon!

6 thoughts on “Cute Native American Art

  1. John and I have something in common.

    I live near a lot of Navajo tribes and I have actually never seen a rug like this. It isn’t normal since doing so is forbidden, but everyone breaks rules in their religions sometimes.

  2. This is a Yei rug, sort of a sand painting in wool. FYI square heads are women, round heads are men — these are corn maidens.

    These are my favorite Navajo rugs — so beautiful, and interesting!

  3. So interesting about the different head shapes!

    I love how I can mention just about anything on my blog and someone will chime in with more information on it.

  4. Hey, I don’t usually comment but I just wanted to thank you so much for this comment:
    “There’s something a little uncomfortable about the thought of using a motif because you think it’s cute and pretty when it has sacred meanings to a group of people.”

    Thank you so much for being aware of issues this. You’ll be surprised the amount of people who will take sacred objects from what the consider “exotic” cultures and wear them because it’s “pretty”. Some kids today will wear Native American headdresses to be “trendy” without realizing how disrespectful it is to them.

    I just wanted to say this, because your comment made my day. :)

  5. I saw this rug on the show too and thought it was pretty cool. Also, is it just me or does the upper left hand corner look like an upside-down skirt and legs?

  6. I saw this too! I love it. BTW: Those are an upside-down skirt and legs on the left! It’s attatched to the lady on the very right. She makes up the border. :) I remember the guy saying something about that being called a “rainbow” something-or other… (I cant remember what, exactly)

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