Contemporary Navajo Weaving Jerry & Gretchen Kolb

Each summer, the Museum of Native American History in Santa Fe, New Mexico, holds an auction of Navajo rugs, blankets and other weavings. Buyers are given a couple of hours to examine the auction items, followed by a live auction in the courtyard of the museum.

Items for the auction are collected from trading posts throughout the Navajo reservation in the month prior to the auction. The museum keeps a record of where the item was acquired the price that the trading post had on the item, and the minimum price that the trading post would accept for the item. Buyers are provided with the higher price, but have no idea of the minimum. They are, however, told that minimums generally run around 30% of the ask price — but — if the final bid is below the set minimum the item is automatically withdrawn from the auction and returned to the trading post.

The weaving we are auctioning is known as a German-town Sampler. The term “Germantown” refers to early synthetic dyes and yarns that were manufactured in Germantown, Pennsylvania and became available to Native American weavers on the reservation in the 1870’s through the trading post system. Most native

weavings were blankets that could also be used on the floors of Hogan’s, but since Germantown yarns, known for their deep colors, particularly red, weavers would weave smaller size items, or “samplers” to establish patterns for later blanket use.

The item being offered here is a con-temporary weaving dating to about 2010. Woven by hand by a single artist, it would be valued at about $4,000-5,000 if it dated to the late 19th century, but current trading post pricing is about $500. Tightly woven, like the early Navajo textiles, it has a lifespan that depends only on proper treatment, which in this instance means only keeping it free of insects and away from direct sunlight.

The Minimum Bid for the

Contemporary Navajo Germantown Sampler is

One Hundred Fifty Dollars