A Navajo Ute Style Chief`s Blanket, First Phase, Mid 19th century, woven in handspun wool of natu

A Navajo Ute Style Chief`s Blanket, First Phase, Mid 19th century, woven in handspun wool of natural ivory, dark brown and black and indigo-dyed blue and lac-dyed red, composed of stripes on a banded ground, 171.5 cm x 141 cm, 67.5`` H x 55.5`` W Literature: For a similar example, possibly by the same weaver, see ``Infinity of Nations`` the catalogue of the permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian`s National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Note: Moran`s is proud to offer this rare artifact, arriving on the market for the first time since its acquisition by the consignor`s family in the 1870`s. An important example of Native American textile art, the blanket arrives at auction from the collection of descendents of Norwegian immigrant Johan Tjentland, later known as John Chantland, who owned a dry goods store in Mayville, Dakota Territory. Chantland traded goods for the blanket in the 1870Æs, and it has since remained by descent in the family collection, having never been exhibited, re-emerging in public view only in the present day. The Navajo learned to weave using the Pueblo vertical loom in the 17th century. They copied various forms of Pueblo blankets including the man`s shoulder blanket, which was a simple design of stripes in alternating colors of natural wools, usually ivory and black, sometimes including bands of wool colored with indigo or other natural dyes, and was woven in a rectangular format that was wider than it was long. The Navajo blankets of what is called the ``First Phase`` developed closely from these Pueblo examples, with the earliest known specimen dating from about 1750 and the majority dating from the late 18th century to about 1850, when the more complicated Second and Third Phase designs, featuring diamonds, half-diamonds and other elements, began to predominate. The effectiveness of the design of the First Phase depends on the careful placement and balance of different widths of stripes, which were meant to run horizontally across the shoulders when the blanket was worn. The tight weave and use of the finest wool ensured exceptional durability and made it virtually waterproof. Expensive even at the time of their manufacture, these status symbols were usually worn only by chiefs but also were highly prized as strikingly beautiful works of art by both Spanish and native traders, including the Sioux and Cheyenne. The Ute particularly favored them, hence the designation ôUte StyleÆÆ. In the 1870Æs these blankets sold for around $100 û 150, a large sum for the time. Today, fewer than one hundred are known to exist. We wish to thank Dr. David Wenger, of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA, for the dye analysis testing of this textile