A finely woven Yei Bi Chei pictorial by celebrated Diné weaver Della Woody Begay, depicting a ceremonial procession of masked figures associated with the Navajo Nightway tradition. The dancers are arranged in a rhythmic line between two larger attendant figures, set against a deep brown ground and framed by Woody’s particularly distinctive serrated, cloud-like border.
And then there is the wonderfully meta detail of a Navajo weaving woven into the Navajo weaving that creates a delightful rug-within-a-rug moment.
Born in 1935 and associated with the Wheatfields area of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, Woody became especially known for her Yei Bi Chei compositions. Her work is represented in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
The restrained palette of ochre, chocolate brown, ivory, blue-gray, green and turquoise gives the piece a particularly sophisticated graphic presence, while its intimate scale makes the precision and narrative detail all the more remarkable.
Size: 2' x 3'2" [61cm x 97cm]
Age: Q3 20th Century (1950-1975)
Origin: SW USA
Type of Rug: Navajo
Material: Wool
Pile Height: Flatweave
Condition: Very good
BK2913
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