Phase 4? Phase 5? Removing color run on a Navajo Germantown (Chief?) Blanket

Chief Blankets are characterized by their design elements--alternating bands of brown and white--but also by their dimension: The width of the warping on the loom is greater than the length of those warps. These dimensions are seen in Chief Blankets and also in the smaller Pueblo and Navajo mantas and Women's Shoulder Blankets. Serapes and later most rugs were woven longer than the width of the warped loom.

The Germantown weaving shown below would not generally be called a Chief Blanket, but it was woven on a loom set up for Chief Blankets. It was woven at a time when a weaving's intended use as a blanket was fading, and the influence of the rug trade was increasing (it shows elements of the rug designs placed on the walls of the Hubbell Trading Post--a modern influence in the 1890s). To me it speaks to the process of innovation that weavers of the time engaged in; her last weaving on the same loom may have been a traditional Chief Blanket. Her next weaving on the loom might have combined the newer and older styles.

Our color-run removal process helps us appreciate the weaver's original intent:

after treatment

before treatment

after treatment

before treatment

Dog bites Caucasian

A skilled restorer can take a bad situation and make like it never happened. At some cost, though; in this case about $170.00.

Back from the brink

A family heirloom with severe water damage and a huge tear down the middle is reconstructed and brought back from the brink. To match the color, size and texture of the original wefts we card and spin various fibers together. New warps are anchored then plied around the old warps. With this project there was the additional challenge of matching the colors of bleached and stained wool that could not be corrected in the wash. Thankfully, the rug is staying in the family and is being hung on the wall, safe from harm...