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No two Navajo rugs are exactly alike; however, with practice one can trace many rugs to their place of origin. This is possible because certain trading posts produce rugs of distinctive style, pattern and color. Perfect examples of such distinct styled rugs are those made at Teec Nos Pas.

Located near the common boundary point of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah, is Teec Nos Pas. Pronounced “Tees – Nahs- Pas” and meaning: Trees in a Circle” in Navajo, takes its name from the cottonwood trees that grow around the water at the trading post’s remote location. These rugs are the most distinctive of all the Navajo's specialized textile types because of their design complexity and abundance and variety of color. The Teec Nos Pas reserves its greatest appeal for the serious collector.

Millicent Rogers (1902-1953) was a woman of wealth and style who had the foresight to collect and preserve Southwestern blankets and rugs. This Chief Blanket was acquired in 1947 and is the signature weaving of her outstanding collection. Woven around 1890, it represents a transition between blankets designed for Indian use only and those woven for trade.

Bold colors and primitive elements give this kilim a Southwestern feel. Derived from a wide variety of influences, from Native American to middle Eastern Nomadic Tribes. The earth-tone colors would have been created in small batches, from natural sources such as vegetables, plants and local minerals.

From the 16th century until the middle of the 19th century trade between New Mexico and Mexico flourished. Although there were a variety of woven goods produced as part of this trade, the single item in greatest demand was the Rio Grande blanket, a general term encompassing the entire weaving tradition of Hispanic New Mexico. Rio Grande blankets demonstrate great variety in design, but many, such as the one that inspired this MouseRug/CoasterRug, feature elements borrowed from the weavings of “Saltillo-style” serapes, made in many places in Mexico. Some of those ”borrowed” elements are evident in this rug: the serrated central diamond, bold geometric patterns and striped borders.

The original piece that inspired this MouseRug/CoasterRug was made in Mexico in the late 1880s and is a very unusual example of a Saltillo-style serape. Other than the fact that it is longer than it is wide – a traditional serape quality – the overall design is quite a departure from the bright colors, central diamond motifs, and border stripes one associates with Saltillos. The weaver of this textile created something quite original by using natural wools, indigo dye and a checkerboard pattern. The result is as equally bold and optically dynamic as a traditional Saltillo-style serape but overall distinctively different and fresh.