Navajo rugs, we think

First, apologizies for having to "shop" these photos of the rugs. It was harder than I thought to get each rug into the iPhone frame as straight as possible (didn't have a ladder), then needed to get rid of the busy oriental rug underneath them as best I could (hence the gray and some squiggly edges). If you see a rug's edge slightly cut off it's actually there and straight . . . had to hold the phone so high my neck wasn't long enough to fully see what I was capturing.

Background -- All I know is that my grandparents had these rugs (I remember them being in their home over 50 years ago), and were supposed to have purchased them in the 1950s on a trip to "Navajo Land".

Any additional information or insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

I will tag one of our esteemed experts on this sort of thing: @komokwa

Take it away, my good man!

 

the colors look good..no fringe....the eye dazzler looks nice !!!
no size.....and while the pics are great.........a close up of the weave and lazy lines may help......but I can't say where they're from....only that they look authentic

 

not so esteemed now...eh ????

 

All look good to me. As komo said, a closeup of a corner would help confirm - close enough (and with a scale) that we can see the edges, the quality of the wool, and the quality of the weave.
@Taupou may be able to tell you what area they are from, and probable date.

 

You will always be esteemed to me

 

"Eye dazzler"? I've never heard that before - is that actual common terminology for one of the designs, and if so which one (can you tell I know nada?)

The sizes were incorporated into the image file names, which I now see don't show. The top one is a 6x10', the middle a 5x7', and the bottom one is 7x10'. I was able to get to the bottom one for a close up followed by a closer close up of the weave but the others will take a little longer for me to get to so I'll have to post those later.

 

it's the ones that make your eyes go nuts staring at them..

 

Nice rugs and agree with the others-I collect them too-small collection (about 12). I didnt read your entire post initially and gut feeling was mid century on the edges and then i reread so agree with the date you were given.

 

All of you have been so helpful, I love learning from you on this forum!

As promised, here are the additional promised photos. Working from top to bottom from the full-size pics in my initial post, above, you'll find a corner then close-up of the weave for the first two, then just a corner shot for the bottom one because I posted that one's weave close-up yesterday.

 

the colors are right, the wool and the warp look good and now we can see the lazy lines........ updated...but nice Navajo rugs..!

 

Nice rugs, DrPam, and they look Navajo to me too.
The first one is a Ganado Red, and I think the second one could qualify as Ganado Red too, although I have never seen a star pattern before.

 

maybe a Jewish Navajo !!....

 

Of course, why didn't I think of that!

 

Komokwa and Any Jewelry, you've both been exceptional responders - thank you so much!

I looked up Ganado Red and learned a great deal, as well as viewed about 1000 images of such rugs. Never saw another star motif, so I guess my grandparents got lucky to find that one! I've also learned about "lazy lines" and "Selvage lines," which I'd wondered about because they're visible on mine.

Just for fun, here's a little more back story. The rugs were used as rugs at my grandparents' house so they've got a bit of honest wear. After they passed away they came to my Mom and about 40 years ago a local dry cleaner promised her they knew now to clean them properly. Wrong. She was very upset when they were returned to her and the reds had "run". She rolled them up, stored them in a closet, and a few years ago they came into my possession.

Just recently I found a legit rug cleaning service I trusted to "do them right" and they did a wonderful job - you can barely see the damage done so many decades ago!

Now the largest one hangs on one wall (I found a 2-sided wood rug hanger that presses together to hold the rug without damaging it), and am hoping I'll be able to find enough wall space to display the other two as well.

Once again, many thanks for your help!

 

Wonderful! It must put a smile on your face to see them, not only because of their beauty but also because of the family history.

You're welcome, DrPam.

 

thank you....
the red bleeds on Navajo rugs because of the dye they used......getting it off..is hard.
the wall is nice...but they're rugs.....
mine is on the floor next to my bed !

 

I’ll shoot a pic later-my turning 10month old puppy is sleeping on one on my side of the bed. His cage and bed are right there but he likes that rug, doesn’t harm it and what the heck. Mine are mostly on the floor, a few are piled on a chaise.

 

Beautiful rug and beautiful puppy too. His woolly fur goes very well with the rug, and he probably knows that.