Description
79223 Antique Eye Dazzler Navajo Rug, 02'05 x 03'07.
Woven with soul-stirring dynamism and historic intention, this handwoven wool antique Eye Dazzler Navajo rug is a visual symphony of lightning and rhythm, conceived at the crossroads of heritage and cosmic abstraction. Crafted in the Southwest with the spirited hands of a master Dine weaver, the textile dances with jagged zigzag forms in bold black and crimson, striking like thunderbolts across a field of handspun ivory wool. The jagged lines pulse with vitality, recalling sacred chants and lightning spirits, manifesting an ancestral force that transcends ornamentation to become pure energy woven in wool.
This piece is a rare expression of the Eye Dazzler tradition, a term coined in the late 19th century to describe these electrifying designs, often associated with Germantown yarns but here interpreted through a more natural palette, suggesting earlier or regionally distinct weaving. The scarcity of such examples—particularly those with such arresting balance and unrelenting movement—elevates this textile into the realm of museum-caliber American Indian art. It is not merely a rug; it is a kinetic vision brought to life by the loom, one that carries the pulse of desert storms and the echoes of ceremony.
The palette, limited yet potent, achieves a kind of controlled chaos that collectors and curators recognize as the hallmark of genius: red and black charged with elemental force, framed in a jagged mountain border that seems to contain the storm within. The border acts like a sacred threshold—both containing and amplifying the energy within—while the central field conjures metaphysical lightning, drawing the eye into a trance-like rhythm of sacred geometry. There is prestige not only in the form, but in the motion, in the textile’s ability to carry tradition into abstraction with such timeless elegance.
Acquiring such a rug is not merely an act of curation; it is an investment in cultural preservation, a statement of taste that aligns with the most discerning collections of indigenous textile art. As the Indian Arts and Crafts Act rightly protects the integrity of Native American artworks, this authentic Navajo weaving represents a living legacy—an heirloom of spirit, history, and the unmatched artistry of the Dine. To possess this piece is to become part of that continuum, to honor its origins while safeguarding its future, wrapped in a work of enduring power and incomparable rarity.
- Abrash.
- Handwoven wool.
- Made in America.
- Measures: 02'05 x 03'07.
- Pile Height: 0.21 of an inch.
- Date: 1910's. Early 20th Century.