Object Monday: Wide Ruins Weaving

Emma K. Joe wove this rug in the 1960s. The Wide Ruins style is characterized by complex and detailed weaving techniques that create bold and large designs. Wide Ruins weavings are generally made with vegetal-dyed, fine handspun wool yarn in natural tones such as this one in gold, grey, white, and beige stripes.  Three of the stripes have a beige field with a gray and white border.Three large grey parallelograms span each stripe. Emma K. Joe wove this rug with 9 warps and 28 wefts per inch.

The Wide Ruins rug style was one of many born out of the Chinle Rug Revival movement ofthe 1930s and 1940s. It got its name from the Wide Ruins Trading post. Chinle Rug Revival movement styles are characterized by their fine technique and regionally specific designs. Edwin Kennedy donated this weaving to the Maxwell Museum in 1969.

Reference:

Webster, Laurie D.. “Reproducing the Past: Revival and Revision in Navajo Weaving.” Journal of the Southwest. Vol. 38, No. 4, Southwestern Indian Art Markets (Winter, 1996), pp. 415-431 (17 pages) https://www.jstor.org/stable/40170047