Mexican or Navajo?

[railman44]

My inlaws bought this blanket in the middle '40's.  They made a road trip to Mexico but passed through Arizona and New Mexico.  I'm not sure if it's wool or cotton (if wool it's very soft).  It is heavy and appears well made.  No tags of course.  It doesn't appear to be the normal looking Mexican blanket but I'm just guessing.  What would something like this be worth in today's market? 

[regularjoe2]

What's the size of your blanket , railman ?

Also , it appears as if there may be multi-panels , either stiched together or woven together - is this correct ? ... if so , how many panels & sizes .

Could you post a pic (macro) with a quarter (25 cent piece) of the 'back' of it ( to get an accurate knot-count) .

From what I've seen so far , it does look handmade .

[railman44]

It appears to be two sections woven together.  This is a pic of it laying on a double bed:


This is an example of the weave:

[fancypants]

Seems like a bit of a head-scratcher/shaker .

Soft , unless alpaca , usually would mean cotton ; pattern indicates Native American influence .

Cotton , to me would generally mean Mexican maker ; Quality is pretty good , except the 'splice' between the two pieces .
I've never seen such a rough splice in American Indian work .

My best guess is a smaller loom (maybe a serape loom) in Mexico made this one , perhaps for the tourist trade .

It's too nice to just be a 'camp blanket' .

My off the hip guess would perhaps not be correct , but I'd say $150 (if it's really cotton) ... double that for alpaca .

[railman44]

There really is no "splice".  That's where the blanket was folded and I didn't pull it straight laying on the bed.  My wife thinks it's wool but I haven't a clue.  I always thought wool was scratchy like the suit I used to wear to Sunday School.

[regularjoe2]

LOL at the Sunday suit thing , railman !

Why not try a burn test on it & finally solve the great wooly debate .

You can use a brush to get enough fibers to test , without having to peel long fibers from your blanket .

One fairly informative site for a simple burn-test is (if you don't know how) : www.fabriclink.com/University/BurnTest.cfm   .

Maybe you do have an alpaca blanket !

[KC]

From first sight it appears to have the look of wool.....but hands on is the true thing.  Agree that it has a Native American flair to it.....would believe it to be from the Arizona area.