"Eye-Dazzler" Weaving
1880/1900
Medium
Cotton and wool, single interlocking tapestry weave; twined selvages and heading, overcast finish terminating in tassels
Dimensions
214.5 × 155.7 cm (84 1/2 × 61 1/4 in.)
Classification
textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
22379
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Navajo weavers, most of whom were women, developed a new, more colorful and complex style of weaving in the late 19th century: they began incorporating wool yarns that had been dyed with vibrant commercial dyes, made available through expanded railroads. They often rendered the junctures between colors as serrated, zigzag lines, creating dynamic patterns that visually vibrate. For this reason, these textiles have come to be called “eye dazzlers.”