A Classic Second Phase Chief’s Blanket, Navajo,
circa 1860, also known as The Chabot Second Phase

April 29, 2024
©2024 Joshua Baer & Company, Santa Fe.
All rights reserved.

Maria Chabot, Bernie and Max Martinez, and Georgia O’Keefe at the Ghost Ranch House in Abiquiú, New Mexico, 1941. Photograph by Jean Armstrong

Maria Chabot was born on September 19, 1913, in San Antonio, Texas. During the 1930s, Chabot was executive secretary of the New Mexico Association of Indian Affairs. In 1934, she was one of the founders of Santa Fe’s Indian Market.

Between 1935 and 1950, Chabot was an employee and friend of Mary Wheelwright, Georgia O’Keefe, and Amelia White. Chabot acquired the second phase during the 1940s, probably from O’Keefe.

Between 1935 and 1950, Chabot ran the Los Luceros Ranch in Alcalde, New Mexico, for Mary Cabot Wheelwright (1978-1958). At that time, Los Luceros was a large cattle ranch and fruit tree orchard located on the Rio Grande, halfway between Santa Fe and Taos. Mary Wheelwright, the owner of Los Luceros, was a prominent collector of nineteenth century Navajo blankets and sand painting weavings by the Navajo medicine man, Hosteen Klah.

In 1937, Wheelwright’s collection of Navajo blankets, Hosteen Klah sand painting weavings, and Navajo medicine became the founding collection of the Wheelwright Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art in Santa Fe. In 1977, the museum changed its name to the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. Today, the museum is known as the Wheelwright Museum.

Hosteen Klah and Mary Cabot Wheelwright, Phoenix, 1928. Photograph by Frances Newcomb.

During the 1950s, Chabot became friends with Amelia White (1878-1972) of Santa Fe. Amelia White and her sister, Martha Root White, were the daughters of Horace White, the managing editor of the Chicago Tribune and, later, editor of the New York Evening Post. The White sisters were second cousins to William Dean Howells (1837-1920), the American novelist, playwright, literary critic, and founding editor of the Atlantic Monthly.

In 1920, the White sisters built a large hacienda on the east side of Santa Fe, just north of the original path of the Old Santa Fe Trail. They named the hacienda “El Delerio”—“The Madness. By 1930, the sisters had accumulated a large collection of antique Navajo blankets and historic Pueblo pottery. Martha Root White died in 1937. In 1972, when Amelia White died, Maria Chabot was living at El Delerio in Santa Fe.

In her will, Amelia White left El Delerio, and her collection of Navajo blankets and Pueblo pottery, to her great nephew, William Dean Howells, III. In 1974, Howells donated El Delerio and the collection to the School of American Research (SAR) in Santa Fe. The collection is now kept at an expanded and remodeled version of El Delerio. In 2007, SAR changed its official name to the School of Advanced Research.

Amelia White, Santa Fe, 1928, with El Delerio in the background. Photographer unknown.

Tony Berlant, of Santa Monica, is a renown contemporary artist. Berlant was born in New York, in 1941. During the late 1960s, Berlant started collecting Navajo blankets. In 1971 and 1972, Berlant and Mary Kahlenberg co-curated The Navajo Blanket, an exhibition of Navajo blankets, for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The Navajo Blanket opened at LACMA on June 27, 1972.

In the spring of 1972, Berlant received a telephone call from Georgia O’Keefe. O’Keefe gave him the following instructions: “At one p.m., tomorrow, my friend, Maria Chabot, will meet with you at Biff’s Coffee Shop in Hollywood. Before you go to Biff’s, go to the bank and get forty-five hundred dollars in cash. When you meet Maria, give her the money. She’ll give you a Navajo chief’s blanket that’s worth twice what you paid for it.”

Berlant followed O’Keefe’s instructions. In 1972 and 1973, the Chabot Second Phase was exhibited as part of The Navajo Blanket. After opening at LACMA, The Navajo Blanket traveled to the Navajo Tribal Museum, Window Rock, Arizona; the Brooklyn Museum; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City; and the Kunstverein Museum, Hamburg, Germany. The Chabot Second Phase is illustrated as Figure 24 in Berlant and Kahlenberg, The Navajo Blanket, the exhibition catalog. Berlant and Kahlenberg date the second phase “1860-1870.”

In 1994, Berlant sold the Chabot Second Phase to Lauris and Jim Phillips of San Marino, California. Between 1975 and 1995, the Phillips were respected dealers in historic Navajo silver jewelry. Their collection of Navajo jewelry is now in the collection of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe.

In 2014, the Chabot Second Phase was acquired from Zaplin-Lampert Gallery, in Santa Fe, by Tim Peterson, of Boston. Between 2014 and 2018, the Second Phase was exhibited at the Scottsdale Museum of the West (SMOW) as part of SMOW’s inaugural exhibition, Courage and Crossroads, by loan from Tim Peterson. The Chabot Second Phase is illustrated on Page 105 in Peterson and Lewandowski, Courage and Crossroads: A Visual Journey Through the Early American West, the exhibition catalog.

In 2014, John E. Salaybe, Jr., a Navajo man from Yatahey, New Mexico, and Kathleen Manolescu, Salaybe’s wife, saw the Chabot Second Phase on exhibit at SMOW in Scottsdale. Later that year, Manolescu and Salaybe wrote an article about the second phase entitled Through The Eyes Of The Weaver. The article appeared in Leading the Way, the Wisdom of the Navajo People, a monthly magazine published in Yatahey by Manolescu and Salaybe.

 Through The Eyes Of The Weaver includes references to the Navajo Hero Twins, Monster Slayer and Born-for-Water, and to the Hero Twins’ use of Atsinitł’ish, or zig-zag lightning. An illustration of the Chabot Second Phase appears with the text of the article.

A Navajo woman carding wool by her hogan, circa 1890. Photographer unknown.

Through The Eyes Of The Weaver
by John E. Salaybe, Jr., and Kathleen Manolescu

This chief blanket is not only beautiful, it also conveys the thoughts of a Diné weaver who lived at a time when sheep and ceremonies were the normal way of life. This invites us to consider the world through her eyes.

The stripes and blocks in the weaving come in groups of four. The repetition of something four times is a standard Diné baahane’. Many teachings come in fours, and we also say, “Díí dilá aleeh, It should happen four times.” Speaking in four words is very powerful in Dine practice. When you make an offering to a medicine man he might say, “All I have to do is say four words and you’ll be cured: Ahee’igo ha’odzíí’go shíí niighá.”

The black lines represent Darkness or Night, and the white lines represent Day. The block patterns have lightning and rain lines in them. Atsinitł’ish is zigzag lightning, and atsooghááł is straight lightning. The black color represents male clouds, k’os diłhił, and the white color represents female clouds, k’os łigaa.

There are four kinds of lightning, which occurs in each season. The first day of spring is marked by white lightning, ii’ni łigai. Ii’ni nitł’aaí, left-handed lightning, is associated with fall. Atsinitł’ish occurs in all seasons. Atsinitł’ish and atsooghááł were weapons used by Monster Slayer and Born-for-Water to slay the giants. The use of these images means the weaver was thinking about protection.

Balance and reciprocity can be seen in the weaving. Earth is dressed up in males clouds, and Sky is dressed up in female clouds. This way they can take care of each other.

The two different kinds of lightning balance each other. The use of four words creates balance and makes things holy.

When there’s balance, there’s harmony. The weaver left the white stripes open. This is a good way to escape adversity, and it also enables you to create flexibility in your thinking. This leads to harmony.

The two vertical halves of the weaving are mirror images of one another. They represent the interior and exterior images of the home. When these two work together, there is harmony in the family.

The Chabot Second Phase Chief’s Blanket, Navajo, circa 1860. 
The second phase measures 66 inches wide by 55 inches long, as woven.

The second phase is ex- Maria Chabot (1913-2001), of Santa Fe; and ex- Tony Berlant, of Santa Monica, from Chabot, in 1972.

The second phase is ex- Lauris and Jim Phillips, San Marino, California; from Berlant, in 1994.

In 2014, the second phase was acquired by Tim Peterson, of Boston, from Zaplin-Lampert Gallery, in Santa Fe.

Between 1972, the Chabot Second Phase was exhibited as part of The Navajo Blanket, LACMA, et alia, 1972-1974. The second phase is Illustrated as Figure 24 in Berlant and Kahlenberg, The Navajo Blanket, the exhibition catalog.

Between 2014 and 2018, the second Phase was exhibited as part of Courage and Crossroads at the Scottsdale Museum of the West, in Scottsdale. The second phase is illustrated on Page 105 in Peterson and Lewandowski, Courage and Crossroads: a Visual Journey Through  The Early American West, the exhibition catalog.

The center of the Chabot Second Phase.

60% of the red yarns are raveled Manchester bayeta piece-dyed with cochineal. 40% of the red yarns are three-ply machine-spun knitting yarn, also known as Saxony yarn, dyed in the skein with cochineal.

The pale green yarn is three-ply European machine-spun knitting yarn, also known as Saxony yarn, dyed in the skein with a combination of fustick (maclura tinctoria) and logwood. (See Page 8 in Partridge, A Practical Treatise On Dying Woollen, Cotton, And Silk, 1834, under “invisible green”.)

The blue yarns are handspun Churro fleece dyed in the yarn with indigo.

The brown yarns and the white yarns are un-dyed handspun Churro fleece.

A Sand Painting Weaving of the Hero Twins by Hosteen Klah (1867-1937), Navajo, circa 1930.
The sand painting weaving measures 52 inches wide by 68 inches long, as woven.

The sand painting weaving is- Don Watson, Mesa Verde National Park, Cortez, Colorado.

The weaving is illustrated in Campbell and Begner, Navajo Pictorial Weaving, 1860-1950, both as the frontispiece and as Plate 225.

The lines of lightning emanating from the tops of the Twins’ heads, and from each Twin’s left hand (as pictured), are Atsinitł’ish, or  “zigzag lightning,” referenced in the 2014 article about the Chabot Second Phase by Kathleen Manolescu and John Salaybe, Jr.

 

 

“The Navajos… work their wool with more

delicacy and taste than the Spaniards.”

 

- Governor Fernando de Chacon, in a letter written in 1795.

Joshua Baer 

Joshua Baer is President of Joshua Baer & Company in Santa Fe, a New Mexico Corporation. Joshua Baer & Company specializes in the appraisal, authentication, purchase, resale, and restoration of historic Navajo blankets and ptre-1950 Navajo rugs..

Since 1985, Baer has performed more than three thousand appraisals of historic Navajo blankets and rugs. Baer has acted as a consultant to Bonham’s, Christie’s, Cowan’s, Heritage Auctions, Hindman, Skinner Inc., and Sotheby’s. Individual appraisal and consultation clients have included Tony Berlant, Paul Cahn, Donald Ellis, Margot and John Ernst, Ambassador Richard Fredericks, Mac Grimmer, Laurene and Steve Jobs, Ralph Lauren, Linda and Stanley Marcus, Hal Riney, Helen Schwab, Jack Silverman, Edgar Smith, Tim Peterson, Gaylord Torrence, Mark Winter, and other private collectors.

Between 2003 and 2004, working on a pro-bono basis, Baer appraised and authenticated classic and late classic Navajo blankets in the collection of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe. Between 2015 and 2017, Baer appraised and authenticated classic and late classic Navajo blankets in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Baer has appraised historic Navajo blankets and rugs donated to the Heard Museum in Phoenix; the Navajo Cultural Museum in Window Rock; the de Young Museum in San Francisco; the Center of Southwest Studies in Durango; MIAC in Santa Fe; the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City; the Minneapolis Institute of Art; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

In 1996, Joshua Baer testified as an expert witness in a civil court case involving the commercial values of classic Navajo blankets. (Burke vs. Harmon; Lincoln, Nebraska, June, 1996.) Baer has appeared on CNBC (1997), on NBC (1997), and on CBS (2000) as an authority on the market for Navajo blankets. On January 14, 1997, Baer was featured in USA Today as a prominent dealer in classic Navajo blankets.

In 2000 and 2001, Baer performed online appraisals as the Native American art specialist at auctionwatch.com. In April, 2017, Baer was interviewed by Native American Art Magazine regarding three classic Navajo chief’s blankets from the Peterson collection on display at the Scottsdale Museum of the West. In November, 2017, Baer was interviewed by Zack Guzman of CNBC regarding the collection history and anticipated donation of the Chantland First Phase Chief’s Blanket to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2021, Baer was interviewed by John O’Hern of Native American Art Magazine regarding Baer’s discovery of the Schoch First Phase in Bern, Switzerland. The Schoch First Phase is the earliest known example of a Navajo blanket with documented collection history. See https://firstphases.com/schoch-first-phase-blanket.html.

In 1974, Joshua Baer graduated from the University of California, magna cum laude, with bachelor’s degrees in Art History and English Literature. Baer is the author of Collecting the Navajo Child’s Blanket (1986), Twelve Classics (1989), and The Last Blankets (1998). Baer’s articles about Navajo blankets have appeared in Hali Magazine, The Magazine Antiques, Tribal Art Magazine, and The Santa Fean.

In August, 2023, Hali Magazine published Baer’s Navajo First Phases, an article about Navajo first phases chief’s blankets. See firstphases.com for Baer’s research regarding the Berlant First Phase, the Chantland First Phase, the Cahn First Phase, the Schoch First Phase, and other classic first phase chief’s blankets.

In 1986, Baer curated an exhibition of Navajo child’s blankets at Morning Star Gallery in Santa Fe. In 1991, Baer curated Space and Design, an exhibition of classic Navajo chief’s blankets for the Monterey Peninsula Museum in Monterey, California. In 1998, Baer curated The Last Blankets, an exhibition of historic Navajo double saddle blankets. The Last Blankets appeared at Joshua Baer & Company in Santa Fe, and at the Winter Antiques Show in New York. In 2001, in cooperation with the San Francisco Folk Art Museum, Baer curated The Rio Grande Serape, an exhibition of Navajo, Rio Grande, and Saltillo serapes for the Tribal and Textile Show at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

In March of 2012, Baer appraised the Chantland First Phase Chief’s Blanket, Navajo, circa 1840, for $1,800,000. On June 19, 2012, the Chantland First Phase sold at Moran’s Auctions in Pasadena for $1,800,000, buyer’s premium included—the auction record for a Navajo blanket. In 2018, the Chantland First Phase went on public display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

In July, 2015, Joshua Baer appraised the Denman Ross First Phase, Navajo, circa 1840, for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In May, 2016, Baer gave a lecture entitled Dah’iistłô (“From The Ground Up,” in Navajo) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). In 2018, the Denman Ross First Phase went on public display as part of an exhibit of Native American art at MFA, Boston.

Between 2014 and 2023, Baer built a collection of classic Navajo blankets for a private collector in the Bay Area. In September, 2018, nine classic blankets from the collection were included in Agnes Martin / Navajo Blankets, an exhibit at Pace Gallery in Palo Alto. In November, 2018, Agnes Martin / Navajo Blankets opened at Pace Gallery in Chelsea, New York.

In August, 2019, Joshua Baer appraised three classic chief’s blankets and three classic Navajo serapes in the collection of Margot and John Ernst, of New York. The six blankets are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, by donation from Margot and John Ernst. Two of the six blankets are on display at the Metropolitan Museum.

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©2024 Joshua Baer & Company, Santa Fe.
All rights reserved.

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