Frazada, Blanket

Artist unidentified

Date1840-1850

MediumWool (animal fiber)

Dimensions83 × 40 3/4 in. (210.8 × 103.5 cm)

ClassificationsTextile, Fiber Arts, & Beadwork

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, museum purchase, 1983 General Obligation Bonds

Terms

Object numberPC1984.25.9

DescriptionRio Grande striped wool blanket, 5-band system, blue & brown stripes on a white field.
The spacing of warp yarns on early Río Grande blankets can be as few as five warps per inch. The reason for the low warp count is that the handmade reeds that separated the warps in the beater were made of wood, and so were less closely spaced than later reeds made of metal wire.
By comparing the spacing on early loom reeds it may be possible to connect nineteenth-century blankets to the looms on which they were made, and to identify their makers. The reed for this blanket would have averaged five dents (spaces) per inch.

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