A woman has shared her shock after discovering her £1.14 colourful rug bought from a charity shop is worth a small fortune – as she explains how she learned the truth about the item
A woman has been left gobsmacked after buying a £1.14 rug from a charity shop only to discover she could sell it on for a small fortune. She explained how she was rummaging around a Goodwill store when she came across a rug with colourful hand-woven birds all over it.
On closer inspection, she came to realise it was a Navajo rug, a hand-woven textile from the Navajo people. Taking to Reddit, she said: “Navajo rug I found at Goodwill I got it for a $1.49 (£1.14) other rugs by Sane Weaver are valued at a minimum of $2,500 (£1,900) Nizhoní Diyogi.” According to Nizhoni Ranch Gallery, there is a rich history of Navajo in America, with ‘Spider Woman’ widely considered to be the person who started it all.
A statement reads: “A deity that holds a special place in the Navajo culture, it is believed that she is the one that taught the Navajo to weave.
“It’s said that the first loom was made from sky and earth cords, and that the weave itself was made from sunlight, lightning, crystals and white shells.
“However, anthropologists believe is was the Pueblo people who taught the Navajo how to create Native American hand-woven blankets and that Navajo artists were influenced in part by the Spanish who had introduced cotton to the Pueblo long before 1650.
“Initially, the Pueblo men would weave the textiles; but the Navajo, being a matriarchal society in which the women owned the sheep and were the ones to weave with the wool.”
It started out with creating women’s dresses by weaving two identical blankets together – and eventually became single blankets.
The statement adds: “Over time, the Navajo Indian rug scene became more beautiful, diverse and sought after with each passing year.
“Yarn’s changed, from natural hand-carded, hand-spun, and hand-dyed yarns, to Germantown yarns, to native wool spun in small mills, to some of the prized Navajo Churro wool pieces of today.
“Spider Woman’s teachings can still be found in modern-day craftsmanship, as the Navajo weaving is done the same way it now as was on the first Navajo loom: using a hand-made upright loom, with one continuous warp, and each stand of woolen yarn is placed into the warp, by hand, one strand at a time.
“That is why if a Navajo rug is cut of compromised in anyway – it will not unravel. This is a process that cannot be mechanised – making the Navajo weaving one of the most unique in the world.”
Today, Navajo rugs can be worth a small fortune, especially if they feature an unusual design and high skill level.
Commenting on her post, one user said: “Who would sell this for $2 (£1.50)? It’s obviously beautiful.”
Another user added: “Showed this to my mum and she’s freaking out over it. It’s beautiful! Definitely look up proper care instructions as you do not wash or dry clean this rug.”
A third user said: “Meanwhile my local Goodwill is selling chipped coffee mugs that are stained for $2.50 (£2).”
