Origin:  Diné [Navajo]; Navajo Nation, Southwest USA.

Comments. Approximately 80-100 years ago, this “double” saddle blanket was envisioned by a Diné [Navajo] woman who hand-wove it on a rustic upright loom. Navajo saddle blankets were woven to go under a horse’s saddle to prevent saddles from rubbing sores into a horse’s back. “Double” means it was made long enough to be folded in half [doubled] under the saddle to create a thicker, more protective pad, but still large enough so that at least the blanket border would hang out & be viewable along the edges of the saddle. So an elaborate or colorful border on a blanket would provide a beautiful or dramatic frame around the saddle.
Historically [before some white traders started ‘pushing’ certain designs], a Diné weaver envisioned her design before ever starting to weave—envisioned it all in her mind…NO designing on paper or replicating a design some trader wanted.  That was true with this Diné ‘grandmother’ who envisioned what is delightful abstract art. She created a dramatic, positive/negative outer border with the natural chocolate brown outer band separated from the inner natural white border by a narrow double zigzag design of light orange and green. This complex border indicates the weaver really cared about her weaving because it took many more hours of spinning, dyeing and weaving for her to produce this saddle blanket design. A simple border of 1 color would have taken many fewer hours of challenging work.  Her blanket border design would have had dramatic visual impact when folded double under a saddle because that border would be exposed, hanging down below the saddle edges.
Her beautiful border is a bold ‘frame’ for the center of her saddle blanket, which itself forms a beautiful abstract art panel. It’s composed of grey variegated Navajo sheep wool that has natural color variations of shades of grey. Her use of differing shades and patterns of the natural variegated wool reminds me of the differing colors of sedimentary rock layers so characteristic of the Diné landscape. Her alternating light and dark horizontal lines of the variegated wool also remind me of the shadow effects on the landscape as the light shifts as clouds drift across the awesome western sky!
Notice that those variegated layers of wool are interrupted by long slanted lines in the weaving—some slanted to the left, some slanted to the right. Those lines are in fact characteristic of antique Diné weaving. Here’s a simplified explanation of what they are. In historic Diné weaving, seldom was a weaving completed in ‘one sitting’ in one time period. Instead, different sections of weft were woven at different times, and were woven with a slant on the unfinished side of the weft. When the weaving was resumed to create the next weft section, the Diné weaver used an innovative weaving technique to join the new weft section to the previous weft section. That technique of joining weft sections resulted in a structurally sound, finished weaving.
Traders dubbed such lines, “lazy lines”, which is an offensive insult, implying they are there because the weavers were “lazy”. That’s an ABSURD, IDIOTIC, IGNORANT LIE, ...and is RACIST. So I personally refuse to use that false, offensive term--& I encourage you to refuse to use it. Instead, use the alternative, fact-based term I coined: “smart lines”. “Smart” because they were a structurally sound way of joining woven individual weft sections into an integrated, strong whole. But also very smart in enabling efficient, effective, superb weaving under historically challenging conditions. Historic Diné weavings resulted from thousands of hours of hard work just to raise the sheep to produce the wool. Then the dedicated weaver had to clean [& in some cases, dye], and spin the wool before even beginning the weaving, which itself took hundreds or thousands of hours at the loom. There’s NO “lazy” in Diné weaving!
When I view this weaving hanging on a wall vertically, I see abstract outlines of mountains and mesas, formed by the weaver’s purposeful placement of the variegated wool and the ‘smart lines’. I can visualize her sitting at her outdoor upright loom, inspired by the surrounding landscape of her Diné homeland, to recreate it in abstract form in her weaving. Awesome! Was it the weaver’s intention to depict an abstract landscape with outlines of mountains or mesas? I don’t know. But I personally think it’s highly unlikely those figures and patterns could have happened randomly without specific intent & careful weaving by the weaver. Regardless of whether the weaver intended to represent her homeland landscape, the center panel is an awesome abstract geometric art design that I believe was intentional and consistent with this creative weaver’s vision!

Condition.  Professionally cleaned.  NO fading on either side; NO moth damage; NO odors of tobacco, chemicals, fragrances. We are: non-smokers! We do NOT use chemical moth repellants of any type. Our house is MOLD-free, fragrance-free, chemical-free, Covid-free. Condition otherwise as shown in photos and described below. Note: if the condition factors detract from your appreciation and enjoyment of the weaving, please do not purchase it. It is priced and sold “as-is”.
Crookedness. See photos. Hung on the wall vertically, one notes a slight crookedness to the weaving. This is due to 2 factors: (1) the weaving dimensions are not perfectly matched— 1 warp end is 28” wide, a middle section is 28.25”wide, and the other end is 27” wide; 1 long side is 49.25” & the other is 49.5”; (2) the center filed is woven slightly crooked. The crookedness effect is minimized if one adjusts the way the weaving hangs on the wall. Of course with its original intended purpose of being a saddle pad, the crookedness would not have mattered or been viewable because only the lovely border would have shown below the edges of the saddle.
Variations like these are common in historic Diné weavings hand-woven on rustic upright looms 80-100 years ago. For us, the variations in this saddle blanket don’t hinder our appreciation of the blanket’s wonderful border and the “mountains and mesas” landscape we envision in the blanket’s central field. We do NOT love & collect antique Navajo weaving art based on whether it has been executed with exact precision or is in perfect condition. We love and admire them for their awesome beauty and for their unique artistic vision & creativity--they 'move' us spiritually, aesthetically and emotionally. They provide a ‘window’ into Diné history and culture. We are awed in knowing their creation requires hundreds & even thousands of hours of dedicated hand labor using knowledge and skills inherited from Diné ancestors. If such variations inherent in this historic, unique, hand-made weaving detract from your enjoyment, do not buy it.
Vertical fold line down the weaving’s center. This line is faintly visible in the photos. It is NOT a defect in the blanket. Rather, it is a residual ‘fold’ line from the blanket having been stored folded. This fold line will disappear with time as the blanket hangs on the wall, or you can iron it to relax the wool—don’t use a ‘steam’ setting in order to avoid adding so much moisture that mold can be established in the fibers.
Stains in white border. A few light stains are present in the white border, revealing the blanket’s long, active life.

Materials.  Navajo hand-spun sheep wool.  Warps: 8 per inch; natural white    Wefts:  24 per inch; natural white, natural variegated grey-brown, and dark brown; synthetic-dyed light orange and light green.  Selvedge cords: natural dark brown.  Tassels:  natural dark brown

Written Authenticity Guarantee.  Diné [Navajo] hand-woven ‘double’ saddle blanket, c. 1920-40; approximately 28” by 49”.  All materials are Navajo hand-spun sheep wool, consisting of 8 warps per inch in natural white wool, and 24 wefts per inch in natural white, natural variegated grey-brown, and dark brown; synthetic-dyed light orange and light green. Crooked weaving sold as-is.
Buy without worries. (1) Written authenticity guarantee from 28 yr member of Authentic Tribal Art Dealers Asso [ATADA]. (2) To protect our and YOUR HEALTH, our home & inventory storage are chemical-free, fragrance-free, mold-free. (3) We are Covid-free. Click this link: How we PROTECT your HEALTH

Provenance:  from my personal collection. Purchased at an estate auction.