This early Regional rug is finely woven and it is in excellent condition. It is one of my favorite textiles. Having sold it many years ago, I now welcome it back as its owners downsize. It is likely from JB Moore’s Crystal Trading Post (*although one could also make an argument that it came from Teec Nos Pos). It is known that JB Moore encouraged the Navajo to use designs from kilims in the early part of the 20th century.

The Navajo are incredibly artistic and creative. They were often influenced by designs used by others, taking those designs and reworking them to be consistent with the Navaho aesthetic.

JB Moore introduced images of kilim textiles. This blanket-like rug features individual kilim-type flowers in the border, which were lifted out of the floral imagery in kilims where floral designs are packed together tightly.

The interior of this rug is a sampler of waterbug designs, another design used at Crystal that was inspired by kilims. The waterbug design is often made up of facing hooks intersectedby a horizontal bar. Samplers are always desirable and the repetition of pattern here is very effective.