Navajo Textiles: The William Randolph Hearst Collection

by N J Blomberg

William Randolph Hearst's collection of Navajo textiles is one of the most complete gatherings of nineteenth-century Navajo weaving in the world. Comprising dozens of Classic Period serapes, chief blankets, Germantown eyedazzlers, and turn-of-the-century rugs, the 185-piece collection was donated to the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History in 1942 but for the next forty years was known only to a handful of scholars.Hearst began acquiring textiles...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816510784
• ISBN13: 9780816510788
• Release Date: July 1988
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 257 Pages
• Weight: 3.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 9.0" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Resource

If you are looking for design ideas and colors this is your book. It has extensive photos. There are few close-ups thought.

Add this one to your collection

If you love both Navajo textiles and well-designed art books, this is the best of both. The text provides an educational overview of the history of Navajo weaving from 1650 to 1920, explaining dying techniques, tribal uses for each style and the eventual marketing of them. Blomberg, a curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (or at least she was when the book was first published in 1988), also describes how their weaving was influenced in later years by relocation and the switch from native use to trading company sales. Regardless of how you feel about William Randolph Hearst's collecting style, his quest for traditional pieces at the turn of the century has become part of the history of the weavings and makes for an interesting story. The textiles are the main feature, of course, and they are beautiful. The 200 prints, illustrating pieces from about 1850 to 1890, are of excellent quality and displayed large enough to take a good look at. With only one print per page, each stands out to full effect. Reading this book is a lot like walking through a gallery exhibition; you can start at the beginning knowing next to nothing about the craft, examine the changing patterns and styles (ponchos, child's blankets, chief's blankets, saddle blankets, transitional styles), and come out with a new appreciation of Navajo design. In the absence of such an exhibit, I'm really happy to have this book.