Serape Navajo Weaving : Historic : GHT 778 : 54″ x 76″ (4'6" x 6'4")

Exquisite serape featuring Merino wool, red background is 3 ply raveled American Flannel and Bayeta cloth.  Natural dyed Indigo blue with plied yellow and orange.  Greens may be plied or home spun natural dyed with rabbit brush yellow and then dipped in an Indigo blue bath. Colors are Indigo blue with plied yellow-green-orange-brown The art of plying was done when threads were unraveled from from bolts of flannel (American made cloth) or Bayeta cloth (imported from Europe) and then re-spun together into a 3-ply yarn that could be woven on the traditional Navajo upright Loom. From an 1896 book, Dr Lummis describes Bayeta weavings as, "The Navahos used to ravel this cloth and use the thread for their finest blankets; and it made such blankets as never have been produced elsewhere. Their durability is wonderful. They never fade, no matter how frequently washed—an operation in which amole, the saponaceous root of the Palmilla, should be substituted for soap. As for wear, I have seen the la