SAR Variant Blanket

A Classic Chief’s Blanket Variant, Navajo, circa 1850, also known as the SAR Variant.

The variant measures 56 inches long by 71 inches wide, as woven.

The SAR Variant is ex- Mrs. Sam Hamilton of Springer, New Mexico. Hamilton may have purchased the variant from the author, Mary Austin. In 1942, the variant was purchased from Hamilton by Amelia White, of Santa Fe. The variant is in the collection of the School of Advanced Research (SAR), Santa Fe.

The variant is in damaged to good condition with 5% restoration. Corner tassels, selvages, and top and bottom edge cords are 50% original. Weft breaks and exposed warps are visible throughout the variant’s brown central panel. The variant was restored during the first half of the twentieth century. The blue stripes in the top and bottom panels contain extensive restorations. The two blue stripes in the bottom panel are 50% restored. Synthetic-dyed knitting yarns were used in the restorations of the two blue stripes. The restored areas have faded and now appear as pale lavender yarns next to the variant’s original indigo-dyed blue handspun yarns.

The SAR Variant is illustrated on the cover of Berlant & Kahlenberg, Walk In Beauty, and as Plate 27. Berlant and Kahlenberg date the chief’s blanket “1850-1865,” and classify it as: “Chief’s Blanket, Transitional Second Phase.” Due to its unique design elements and to its illustration on the cover of Walk In Beauty, the SAR Variant is regarded as an icon of classic Navajo weaving.

Like the Cahn First Phase and the Twiss Third Phase, the SAR Variant has three brown stripes and four white stripes above and below its central panel.

The Cahn First Phase, Ute Style, Navajo, circa 1800-1830.

The SAR Variant, Navajo, circa 1850.
The SAR Variant is illustrated on the cover of Walk In Beauty.
The variant is in the collection of the School of Advanced Research in Santa Fe.

The SAR Variant, Navajo, circa 1850.
The SAR Variant is illustrated on the cover of Walk In Beauty. The variant is in the collection of the School of Advanced Research in Santa Fe.

The Twiss Third Phase, Navajo, circa 1855.
The Twiss Third Phase is in the collection of the National Museum
of the American Indian (NMAI), Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC.

The Twiss Third Phase, Navajo, circa 1855.
The Twiss Third Phase is in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC.

The Cahn First Phase, Ute Style, Navajo, circa 1800-1830.
The first phase measures 56 inches long by 68 inches wide, as woven.

The SAR Variant, Navajo, circa 1850.
The variant measures 56 inches long by 71 inches wide, as woven.

The SAR Variant is one of two classic Navajo chief’s blankets that follow the Cahn First Phase’s atypical pattern of three brown bands and four white bands above and below their central panels. With the exception of the Twiss Third Phase, below, all of the other classic (pre-1865) chief’s blankets in museum and private collections follow the traditional pattern of two brown bands and three white bands above and below their brown central panels.

A Classic Third Phase Chief’s Blanket, Ute Style, Navajo, circa 1855,
also known as the Twiss Third Phase. The third phase measures
57 inches long by 76 inches wide, as woven.

A Classic Third Phase Chief’s Blanket, Ute Style, Navajo, circa 1855, also known as the Twiss Third Phase. The third phase measures 57 inches long by 76 inches wide, as woven.

Like the Cahn First Phase and the SAR Variant, the Twiss Third Phase has three brown bands and four white bands above and below its brown central panel.

The third phase was collected between 1855 and 1861 by Thomas S. Twiss (1807-1871), of Fort Laramie, Wyoming. Between 1855 and 1861, Twiss was the first Indian Agent at Fort Laramie.

The Twiss Third Phase is in the collection of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (NMAI Catalog #10.8457.)

In 1996, the Twiss Third Phase was exhibited in Woven By The Grandmothers, at the National Museum of the American Indian, Bowling Green, New York. The third phase is illustrated as Plate 13 in Bonar, Woven by the Grandmothers, the exhibition catalog, 1996. Bonar dates the third phase “1850-1860.”

The third phase is illustrated as Figure 36 in Berlant & Kahlenberg, Walk in Beauty, 1977. Berlant and Kahlenberg date the third phase “1850-1860.”

The third phase is illustrated as Plate 59 in Wheat & Hedlund, Blanket Weaving in the Southwest, 2003. Wheat and Hedlund classify the third phase as “Phase III, early” and date it “1850-1860*.”

The SAR Variant, Navajo, circa 1850.
The variant measures 56 inches long by 71 inches wide, as woven.

The Twiss Third Phase, Navajo, circa 1855.
The third phase measures 57 inches long by 76 inches wide, as woven.

A Classic Chief’s Blanket Variant, Navajo, circa 1850, also known as the SAR Variant.
The SAR Variant measures 56 inches long by 71 inches wide, as woven.

A Classic Chief’s Blanket Variant, Navajo, circa 1850, also known as the SAR Variant. The SAR Variant measures 56 inches long by 71 inches wide, as woven.

In the SAR Variant, the red yarns are raveled Manchester bayeta piece-dyed with cochineal. The blue yarns are handspun Churro fleece dyed in the yarn with indigo. The brown yarns and the white yarns are undyed handspun Churro fleece.

Faded areas of restoration in the top and bottom panels
of the SAR Variant, Navajo, circa 1850.

The variant’s original blue yarns are handspun Churro fleece dyed in the yarn with indigo. During the first half of the twentieth century, blue synthetic-dyed knitting yarns were used to restore damaged areas in the variant’s top and bottom panels. Those synthetic-dyed knitting yarns have now faded to a pale grey / purple. The SAR Variant a good example of a classic Navajo chief’s blanket that has become an icon, in spite of the presence of sub-standard restorations, including the faded blue yarns in its top and bottom panels.