Featured in this lot is this Navajo transitional pattern wool blanket circa 1900-. The blanket features a wonderfully and professionally crafted wool construction that shows a thicker yearn with bands of yellow, grey, dark brown, red, black, and off white with tassels in the corners of the rug. The rug shows a tag that is marked and dated as follows: Transitional Sampler Blanket - 1890. Navajo Transitional blankets (also frequently called Navajo Transitional rugs) were a specific type of textile created by Navajo weavers from about 1885 to 1910. In terms of construction, you can think of these Transitional weavings as being “in between” a rug and a blanket: They are thicker and heavier than a Navajo wearing blanket yet softer and less rugged than a Navajo rug. The reason for this midway state is that Transitionals were woven during the time that the pressures of a changing consumer market forced Navajo weavers to stop making blankets for wearing and instead weave floor rugs to sell to tourists and buyers back east. The change from weaving blankets to rugs did not occur overnight, taking a good 15 years to evolve. During this transitional time, weavers exhibited a wide range of innovative designs and color choices, bolstered both by the freedom of not needing to make the same kind of blankets that had been woven for generations and also having increased access (through the trading posts) to aniline synthetic dyes. The condition of this Navajo rug is well preserved with some slight wear but no bleeding and shows a well preserved condition. The measurements of this Navajo rug is 63" x 35". The thread count is 56 threads per square inch.