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Fancy double saddle blanket
Wearing blanket (Germantown Eyedazzler)
Fancy double saddle blanket
Native American, Diné [Navajo]
1895–99
Object Place: Southwest, North America
Medium/Technique
Wool tapestry weave with diagonal joins
Dimensions
136 x 100 cm (53 9/16 x 39 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with general funds
Accession Number99.77
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas, Fashion and Textiles
ClassificationsTextiles
DescriptionTransitional fancy double saddle blanket, known as a Germantown eyedazzler, to be doubled and used with tassels hanging down horse's rump, also very popular trade item. Three zoens with two serrate diamonds and two serrate diagonals at each end, vertical serrate lines across center, on red ground.
Bright red ground through the middle of which are groups of serrated stripes in bright yellow, green, dark blue and white; across the ends narrow green and blue stripes mark off a space in which are two diamonds and two diagonal stripes in yellow, green, dark blue and white; red fringe on ends, and tassels on corners.
Bright red ground through the middle of which are groups of serrated stripes in bright yellow, green, dark blue and white; across the ends narrow green and blue stripes mark off a space in which are two diamonds and two diagonal stripes in yellow, green, dark blue and white; red fringe on ends, and tassels on corners.
Provenance1899, sold by Mary Louise Eldridge (b. 1849 - d. 1933), Jewett, NM, to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 16, 1899)
NOTE: Mrs. Eldridge began working in New Mexico in 1891 for the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1894, she was made field matron for the Women's National Indian Association, whose work in New Mexico was often funded by the chapter in Cambridge, MA. By 1898 Mrs. Eldridge was the superintendent for all Navajo work; she donated land to build a hospital in Jewett, with funds donated from members in Boston and Cambridge. In 1901, the newsletter of the WNIA (The Indian's Friend) began publishing a notice stating that anyone who wished to purchase Native American baskets or other goods could order them through Mrs. Eldridge, among others. See Valerie Sherer Mathes, ed., Women's National Indian Association: A History (Albuquerque, 2015), 153-172.
NOTE: Mrs. Eldridge began working in New Mexico in 1891 for the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1894, she was made field matron for the Women's National Indian Association, whose work in New Mexico was often funded by the chapter in Cambridge, MA. By 1898 Mrs. Eldridge was the superintendent for all Navajo work; she donated land to build a hospital in Jewett, with funds donated from members in Boston and Cambridge. In 1901, the newsletter of the WNIA (The Indian's Friend) began publishing a notice stating that anyone who wished to purchase Native American baskets or other goods could order them through Mrs. Eldridge, among others. See Valerie Sherer Mathes, ed., Women's National Indian Association: A History (Albuquerque, 2015), 153-172.