Wearing Blanket with Moki (Moqui) Stripes
Unknown Artist
1865–75
Medium
Wool (handspun, Germantown, and bayeta): tapestry weave
Dimensions
181 × 131.5 cm
Classification
Textile
Department
Textiles
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of J. H. Wade
Accession Number
1921.564
About this artwork
Diné (Navajo) blankets reflect the Southwest’s cultural diversity. Both of these examples feature a striped moki pattern. The origin of moki is unclear, but it may have come from Pueblo peoples, from whom the Diné learned weaving after migrating to the Southwest from the sub-Arctic north. Or it could have come from the Spaniards, who arrived in the Southwest in 1540, not long after the Diné. Although its patterns are centuries old, these blankets were created during the late 1800s to early 1900s...