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Navajo Rug, 14' x 9'

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Navajo Rug, 14' x 9'
Navajo Rug 14' x 9' Crystal Area pictorial weaving with gold, black and red aniline dye, featuring an Indian head in the center. Rug was commissioned by Ken Lively of Chama, NM. Woven by the wife of a Navajo Tribe Chief near Gallup, NM. Woven from all handspun wool. Circa 1930. $10,000-15,000 Provenance: Letter of history to accompany the lot. Letter states: The rug was commissioned by Ken Lively of Chama, NM. The family seems to believe it was commissioned in the 1950s, but two experts believe the rug was woven far before that. The wife of a Navajo Tribe Chief was the artist/weaver. We don't have the Chief's name, however the tribe was located in an area between Farmington and Gallup, NM. When half completed, the woman was pregnant. The Chief asked his wife what symbol or center figure she planned to weave into the design. She told him she wanted to put a Chief's head there. The Chief told her that symbol could only be used 'if she had a son'. Then she would be permitted to place the symbol in the center of the rug. She was told to stop weaving and wait until she had the child. She stopped, waited, had a son, then completed the design and the rug. It was then delivered to Mr. Lively. It was placed on the floor in the center of his den in Chama for 40 years, from 1955-1995. Then it was moved with Mr. Lively to Coeur d'Alene, ID and placed on the floor of his daughter's family room from 1995-2005. It was then rolled and wrapped and kept in storage for 12 years, after 50 years of daily use.