Watch & Learn
Navajo Rugs Pricing and Identifing Old Navajo Saddle Blankets
Navajo Saddle Blankets
Navajo saddle blankets are popular with Native American art collectors and are prized for their variety, having been made in various colors and designs. The earliest saddle blankets were created in the 1870s. During the 1890s, Navajo saddle blankets made from Germantown wool became fashionable and are some of the most intricate eye dazzler blankets ever created, with tight weaving and vivid colors. 1900 to 1930 was considered the golden era of Navajo saddle blankets as many of the most uniquely Navajo pieces were woven during this time.
A saddle blanket is a blanket or pad placed underneath a saddle on a horse. The blankets absorb sweat and provide cushioning for both the rider and the horse. They can be functional or decorative - and frequently are both.
Navajo weavers have been making saddle blankets for over 150 years, both for their own use and for trade with other Native American tribes and sale to buyers who visited Navajo country on the Santa Fe railroad. These textiles, which are smaller than Navajo rugs or other kinds of Navajo blankets, were easy to transport and can be highly collectible today, especially vintage Navajo saddle blankets that are still in good condition.
Navajo saddle blankets typically come in two sizes: single saddle blankets and double saddle blankets. A single saddle blanket fits underneath a saddle without folding and usually is in the range of 30” square. Double saddle blankets are meant to be folded in half lengthwise before use and are roughly about 30” wide by 60” long.
How to Identify a Saddle Blanket
By Dr. Mark Sublette, President / CEO of Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery
Navajo single saddle blanket, c. 1900s
Unlike some kinds of vintage Navajo blanket weaving that adhered to similar patterns and styles (such as Chief’s blankets), saddle blankets are much more free-form in design, reflecting more clearly the inner artistic vision of the weaver. Stylistically, Navajo saddle blankets can run the gamut with intricate geometric motifs, minimalist designs, representational pictorial images, names, initials, or ranch brands.
Like all saddle blankets, Navajo saddle blankets are intended to sit between a horse’s back and a saddle. Single saddle blankets fit neatly underneath the saddle, while double saddle blankets are folded in half lengthwise before use.
Navajo double saddle blanket, c. 1920s
Authentic Navajo saddle blankets are woven on the same type of loom used for all Navajo weaving: an upright, vertical loom that uses a continuous warp, meaning the foundational wool yarn used as the base of the rug isn’t cut off at the ends; instead, the warp thread wraps from the bottom of the loom, back to the top, loops down again to the bottom, then loops to the top and so on. The design is then woven using the weft yarn, which is worked horizontally in sections.
The wool used in Navajo saddle blankets varies depending on the time the blanket was made, as it does with other kinds of Navajo weavings. Earlier weavings from the 1870s to 1910s often used hand-spun churro wool - silky, long-fiber wool from sheep popular in the Navajo flocks of the time.
Navajo single saddle blanket with multicolored tassels, c. 1920s
Another kind of wool was used by weavers during the Germantown yarn era from 1885 to 1910. The earliest of these weavings were made with cotton twine warps (instead of much stronger wool yarn) and didn’t withstand actual use under a saddle. As such, Germantown saddle blankets that are in good condition are particularly collectible.
In the heyday of Navajo saddle blanket weaving from 1900 to 1930, saddle blankets were made with homespun wool, either in natural colorations or dyed with synthetic aniline dyes in a range of hues. Saddle blankets may have added tassels on one end to add an extra visual punch during use under the saddle.
Navajo Saddle Blankets 1870-1930
Reproduced courtesy of Western Art Collector Magazine, July 2009