To create this "Germantown Sampler", a Diné (Navajo) woman warped an upright loom with a continuous white cotton thread that would be obscured by dyed wool wefts as she wove. The two-ply wool yarns that she used for these wefts were imported to the Southwest from factories east of the Mississippi, a practice that began in the mid-1860s after the herds churro sheep owned by Diné (Navajo) were decimated by US armed forces. Aniline dyes made from chemical compounds manufactured in Europe and Britain imparted a range of bright colors that differed from earlier vegetal and protein dyes, such as indigo, madder, lac, and cochineal. The name refers to wool mills in Germantown, Pennsylvania, but the manufactured wool yarns used in the example and others like it could have originated across the Northeast and Midwest. So-called Germantown Eye Dazzlers were transitional weavings made primarily for the Anglo tourist market that increased dramatically after the region became accessible by rail in the 1880s. Smaller and lighter weight than a late 19th-c. transitional weaving or an early 20th-c. floor rug, these brightly colored samplers with dynamic geometric patterns could be easily transported home, where they were often hung on walls or used as table covers.

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