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On any given day, there are to hits from those words. In between, the offerings range from great pieces from reputable dealers to out and out frauds.
Rugs appearing to be Navajo can also be found in many antique stores, thrift stores, yard sales, and swap meets. Anyhow, here are some guidelines that will help you determine whether you are looking at a Navajo textile or not. M o s t Navajo rugs do not have a fringe. By most, I mean Navajo rugs are warped in a continuous figure eight technique and the weaving fills the entire warp. The picture at left shows a rug being woven.
If you look carefully at the ends of a Navajo rug, you will see the ends of these loops. Germantown rugs have a fringe that is added on after the rug is woven. The fringe on an antique Germantown may be partially worn away, or gone altogether, but this does not hurt the structure of the textile, since the fringe is an add-on.
The other exception to the rule is a Gallup throw. A typical Gallup throw is woven on a cotton warp, and the weaving is cut off and knotted rather than finished in the traditional way so there is a fringe on one end only.
