Navajo Weaving Comb

Navajo Weaving Comb
19th Century

Long and narrow with repair 9″.

During the late 18th and throughout the 19th centuries, Navajo women were captured and sold into Hispanic households to weave blankets for their owners; these blankets became known as slave or servant blankets. Frequently the Navajo women were allowed to weave on their traditional vertical style loom using combs like the ones illustrated here. These simple tools frequently exhibit finely carved ornamentation.

Published: A Land So Remote, Frank & Miller, Volume 3, p. 78, plate 83, right hand item.