Zuni Pueblo Striped Blanket [SOLD]

The pueblo people have been weaving clothing and blankets since the 8th century, long before the Spanish invaders arrived in the17th century, however, the pueblos were weaving with cotton until the Spaniards introduced sheep.  It is not yet known whether the pueblos invented weaving or if it was introduced from Mexico. Even though some weavings have been executed with wool, pueblo weaving has continued with cotton, even to today.

Pueblo weaving has, for the most part, died out except for some output from Hopi and Zuni, and occasionally from other pueblos.  Weaving has traditionally been the responsibility of men at Hopi and women at Zuni Pueblo. Zuni weaving techniques, in some regards, are more closely associated with those of the Diné, and, since Diné women are the weavers, perhaps Zuni weavers learned the techniques from them and followed Diné tradition.  

The warp wool, that is, the foundation threads, are a mixture of dark brown and white wools carded together.  It is for that reason that some dark brown spots show up on this pueblo blanket. Those are warp lines. The outer warp on the edges of the blanket consist of a single ply yarn of dark brown, the next inner warp consists of two strands, as does the third inner warp from the edges.  All other warps are single ply.

The selvedge yarn—the bluish-grey wool wrapped around the edges of the two long sides of the blanket are two ply, as are the red yarn wrapped around the two short ends of the blanket.  The double ply is for added strength.

The typical Zuni blanket is white with combinations of narrow stripes in brown, black or blue.  This one is very typical—white basic blanket with thin stripes of dark brown and blue in bands of about 6 or 7 inches wide.  Thin white “clouds” float within the indigo blue bands. Could the blue represent the sky, the brown represent the earth, and the white represent clouds?  As is typical of Zuni blankets, it is thick, for warmth and durability.

Condition: this Zuni Pueblo Striped Blanket is in very good condition, having just been professionally cleaned and a few broken warps repaired.

Provenance: from a source in Santa Fe

Recommended Reading: Pueblo Indian Textiles - A Living Tradition by Kate Peck Kent