Navajo Rug: Coal Mine Mesa Raised Outline, Storm Pattern
Handwoven by Master Weaver, Sally Begay from Tuba City, AZ
100% wool, measures 52.5 inches long by 31.5 inches wide
Primarily vegetal dyes in soft desert colors, intricate pattern, well balanced
Circa 1985, perfect condition, impeccibly woven
Special collection, no discounts apply

This style of weaving developed around the 1950's in the Western Reservation areas of Coal Mine Mesa and Tuba City and characterizes Raised Outline Navajo rugs from that area.

Weavers of Raised Outline rugs employ an interesting weaving technique that results in a design with a three-dimensional appearance. A ridge of weave outlines the design elements, and therefore allows paler background yarns greater distinction, producing an elevated outline design, This style of weaving is unique in that designs are outlined in two alternating colors which are slightly raised on one side of the rug. This is done through manipulating the warp and weft threads creating this unusual effect. The raised outline pattern appears only on the front side giving each side of the rug a distinctively different visual appearance with the same design.

The Storm Pattern rug design also originates from the western region of the Navajo reservation, between Tuba City and Tonalea (Where the Water Comes Together). The Storm pattern was accepted as a Navajo rug weaving style in the 1950’s. Typically, bordered Navajo rugs were rendered in black, white, gray and red color combinations, however this rug is unique with it's soft colors. Basic features of this style of rug include a center box or square, which is described as a hogan or center of the world; smaller boxes at or near each corner of the rug, called Houses of the Wind or the Four Sacred Mountains; and four zigzagged lines representing lightning, connect the center square to each smaller corner box. Two figures, symbolizing water bugs or pinon beetles lie at center top and bottom of the rug.