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Navajo Shiprock Yei Be Chei Trading Post Rug 1950

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:750.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Navajo Shiprock Yei Be Chei Trading Post Rug 1950
Featured in this lot is a Navajo Shiprock Yei Be Chei Trading Post rug, circa 1950s. The rug features a wonderfully and professionally crafted wool construction. The rug features a field of light grey with a total of six female Yei characters with darker brown geometric patterns with light brown throughout. The Yei Navajo rugs begin in the northwest corner of the reservation, in the early part of the 20 century. They were developed by Will Evans Trader and owner of the Shiprock trading Company. Yei are religious deities taken from the Navajo Sand paintings. In these weavings, the male Yei have round heads and the female Yei have square heads. Usually, these weavings have a stylized rainbow down the sides. Less common are the Yeibichai weavings. These weavings depict Navajo dancers impersonating Yei in human form. In the actual Navajo ceremony there are 14 dancers, The Talking God, six male dancers, six female dancers and Water Sprinkler, the god of precipitated waters. The condition of this Navajo rug is well preserved with one of the tassels missing but otherwise shows no obvious signs of damage. The measurements of this rug are 36 1/2"L x 32 1/2"W. The thread count of this rug is 120 threads per square inch.*