A SPECTACULAR NAVAJO SANDPAINTING RUG, POSSIBLY RUBY MANUELITO, EXCELLENT!

Description

A SPECTACULAR NAVAJO SANDPAINTING RUG, POSSIBLY RUBY MANUELITO, EXCELLENT!
This superlative weaving depicts the NIGHTWAY CHANT.  It is exceptionally woven with beautiful dark grey background, crisp coloration and wonderful artistry.
It measures approximately 53” x 56” and is in great original condition.  Circa mid 20th C.
Here is what Tyrone D. Campbell had to say about another similar Navajo Sandpainting rug:
“Mrs. Sam Manuelito, depicting the Nightway Chant, Holy People deities, and sacred plants surrounding a swirling logs axis, a Rainbow goddess encloses the scene from three sides.
Mrs. Sam (Gladys) Manuelito was the niece of the famous Navajo medicine man and weaver, Hosteen Klah. Klah taught Gladys and her sister, Irene, sandpainting weaving and Gladys went on to have a prolific career and continued to weave, according to most historians, until the early 1970’s. The Klah family’s influence on early sandpainting ceremonial depictions in woven form is legendary and Mrs. Sam rightly deserves the designation as one of the most seminal weavers of this genre; and certainly after Klah, the most well known.
Briefly summarized, the Nightway myth involves a visionary hero, the youngest of several sons whose prophetic dreams are ridiculed by his family. He leaves alone on a hunting trip and is captured by Gods in the form of mountain sheep. They and other Gods lead him through a series of mystical adventures where he gains ceremonial knowledge. In the most interesting adventure, the hero floats down a river inside a hollowed-out log into an area of waterfalls and caves where the Gods teach him the ceremony of the “swirling logs” -- a part of the Nightway. He returns home to his chastened relatives and, hailed as a hero, teaches them the ceremony and then departs to live with the Gods.
The swirling logs are symbolized by the blue and black cross in the center of the weaving. The square in the center of the cross is the lake (emergence place). The four sacred plants of the Navajo, corn, beans, squash and tobacco, radiate from the center. On the log arms are pairs of female and male Holy People, the female holding juniper sprigs, the male a white rattle and juniper sprig. They are surrounded by, in the east, Talking God (white), the head of the Gods; in the west Hogan God (black); on the north and south Humpback Gods (each carrying a sack of vegetables and fruits with symbols of rain, clouds and mist), the whole surrounded on three sides by an attenuated Rainbow Guardian.”
IN
an effort to assist Buyers with understanding the way I describe the condition of Navajo weavings that I’m selling on ebay, I spoke with Navajo textile author and expert Tyrone Campbell about his ‘Classification Categories for Condition’ that he first published in his NEWSLETTER in 1981.
After discussing with him that we may have to tweak it a bit because its been 40 years since it was originally comprised and has gotten nearly impossible to find weavings in excellent, let alone mint condition these days, I concluded, what the hell, why mess with a good thing.  It’s a standard worth sticking to!  So here it is as originally written (and with permission to reprint from Tyrone, July 2020).
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“CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORIES
FOR DETERMINING PHYSICAL CONDITION
FRAGMENT:           Any portion of an entire weaving.
DETERIORATED:  Heavily damaged, warps exposed, selvage missing, large holes, serious fading or running, corners or areas missing.
AVERAGE:               Shows floor wear or small holes, some selvage damage, very minor bleeding, etc.
GOOD:                      Above average classification may still show use, but not broken warps.  In some cases a very small hole or two or a minor selvage break or two is acceptable.
EXCELLENT:           No holes, no bleeding or fading, no exposed warps or serious selvage damage.
MINT:                        This classification means that the textile is in pristine condition.
NOTE:  In the case of rare weavings we will up-grade the condition classification from Average to Good or from Good to Excellent, but in no case to Mint or from Deteriorated to Average condition.”
From THE TYRONE D. CAMPBELL NEWSLETTER, Published at Albuquerque, N.M., 1981.
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