A Rare Northwest Coast Chilkat Ceremonial Blanket

Tlingit, circa 1890, goat wool on cedar bark foundation, finely woven and dyed in yellow, blue-green, dark brown, black and white, bilaterally laid out in three characteristic formline designed panels, representing clan symbols, totemic animal and natural forms in an abstract geometric pattern, having original applied border and fringe.

47 x 71 in.

Private Collection, Greensboro, North Carolina

Chilkat blankets are garments of prestige worn like a shawl over the shoulder by men and women of the Tlingit peoples along the Northwest Coast. These blankets were worn on special occasions such as a potlatches, in dancing rituals, or occasionally hung on the outside of a grave house as a token of esteem.

The art of Chilkat Blanket weaving originated with the Coast Tsimshians, and spread to the Tlingit and Haida. These blankets, requiring a year more of hard work to create, are highly sought by northwest coast Indian nobility.

Designs are hand spun in cedar bark and woven with mountain goat wool, and designs represent the crest of the owner. Traditionally the men designed the pattern and painted the abstract figures on a wooden pattern board. However, women bore sole responsibility for the preparation of materials and weaving the blankets. They are a prized possession of anyone wealthy enough to own one.

Some small areas of the design field with small punctures and associated loosened weave; shedding losses to lower fringe border; some staining.