Yei Be Chai Rug

Hand-carded, hand-spun wool yarn. Natural colors, aniline dyed red, yellow, and blue, vegetal dyed tan. These rugs depict "Holy People" of the Diné (Navajo). When the figures are portrayed from the side, it is called a Yei Be Chai and depicts the masked dancers at the end of a ceremony. When they face you they are the "Holy People" themselves. Traditional weavers must undergo a ceremony in order to weave these rugs. One of the constricts after this ceremony is the eyes and mouths of the figures cannot be woven in, but must be stitched in after the rug is complete.

Condition: Very good condition. Some warps showing. Some broken warps and two holes at one edge.

Circa: 1940s

Wefts per linear inch:  36