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mountains, sweeping horizons, and mirages that
shimmer above the cracked earth (fig. 4). Close
inspection of the bowls reveals surprising details:
Scenes painted on concave surfaces appear flat
and figures merge and flow between foreground
and background, resulting in Escheresque impossibilities
in design (fig. 5).6 The Mimbres
bowls on view at the de Young demonstrate the
perception, imagination, and sophistication of
their ancient makers.
Arranged in an intimate side gallery (fig. 9),
Native Artists of Western North America includes
a selection of stunning masterworks made
by Navajo (Diné) weavers.7 The eight textiles on
view demonstrate the classic forms of Navajo
weavings: the elegantly minimalist chief blanket
and the dazzlingly ornate serape. Chief blankets
were woven on a horizontal plane and were
worn wrapped around the body, following the
model of the large, white textiles made by their
Pueblo neighbors.8 The earliest examples feature
thick stripes of creams, browns, and blues
(fig. 6). Weavers then elaborated the banded design,
adding bold red punctuations of rectangles
and later stepped-triangle and diamond motifs.
The serape tradition developed concurrently.
Navajo weavers were inspired by the intricate
Saltillo serapes that were au courant in Mexican
men’s fashion. They extracted the serrated-diamond
motif from the dizzying Saltillo serapes,
weaving elaborate geometric designs on crimson
backgrounds according to their own principles
of symmetry and balance (fig. 7). Distinguished
by their refined aesthetics and exceptional quality,
Navajo blankets are considered among the
finest textiles from the American Southwest.9
The textiles on view were all woven during the
mid to late nineteenth century, a period marked
by intense colonial expansion across the West.
In 1863, the U.S. government forced thousands
of Navajo from their land and made them relocate
to the Bosque Redondo reservation, where
they remained interned for five years. During
this time, weavers had limited access to their
own materials and began to use the commercially
spun and synthetically dyed yarns that were
issued by the U.S. government.10 Despite adversity,
weavers elaborated their practice, experimenting
with a new spectrum of bright colors
to enhance their designs (fig. 8). This artistic in-
FIG. 4 (facing page top):
Bowl with deer and geometric
landscape.
Mimbres artist, New Mexico,
United States. C. 1000–1150.
Earthenware, pigment. D: 27 cm.
Gift of the Thomas W. Weisel Family to
the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
inv. 2013.76.168.
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums
of San Francisco.
FIG. 5 (facing page bottom):
Bowl with human-avian figure.
Mimbres artist, New Mexico,
United States. C. 1000–1150.
Earthenware, pigment. D: 24.7 cm.
Gift of the Thomas W. Weisel Family to
the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
inv. 2013.76.99.
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums
of San Francisco.
FIG. 6 (above): Wearing
blanket, first-phase chief
blanket, Ute style.
Navajo (Diné) artist, Southwest,
United States. C. 1840.
Wool; weft-faced plain weave, diagonaljoin
tapestry weave, eccentric weft.
131.4 x 176.5 cm.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
gift of the Thomas W. Weisel Family
Collection, inv. 2016.14.18.
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums
of San Francisco.
FIG. 7 (right): Serape.
Navajo (Diné) artist, Southwest,
United States.
C. 1860.
Wool; weft-faced plain weave; dovetail,
interlocked, and vertical-join tapestry
weave; eccentric weft.
137.2 x 83.8 cm.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,
gift of the Thomas W. Weisel Family
Collection, inv. 2016.14.19.
Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums
of San Francisco.