Style: JB Moore Rugs
John Bradford Moore was a renowned trader in New Mexico who established the Crystal Trading Post 1896. An early marketer of Navajo weavings, JB Moore became a major source for quality Navajo rugs, introduced a unique style to Navajo weaving, as well as an innovator for the mail-order business. Based on simplified oriental patterns of the time, JB Moore Crystal weavings were the basis for both the Two Grey Hills and Teec Nos Pos styles.
History of JB Moore Rugs
There may not be a more unique story behind a Navajo rug than that of JB Moore, a business man who valued quality, even more so than the dollar. He worked closely with the Navajo weavers to ensure the designs they created were unique, repeatable and done with utmost care. He wanted JB Moore Crystal weavings to be authentic, beautiful works that people remembered.
Inspirational Future
Moore’s influence upon the Navajo weaving industry was profound. Within 20 years, the Teec Nos Pos and Two Grey Hills styles would develop based on his initial Crystal styles. Along with this movement in the 1940s, the Crystal style changed from the central bordered design with bold colors to banded natural colors incorporating two to three different colors, patterns and “wavy” lines. Newer Crystal style rugs also feature more muted natural dyed colors, instead of the bright reds found in early Navajo JB Moore Crystal rugs.
At the Nizhoni Ranch Gallery, we value both the historic past of JB Moore’s style, his drive to expand the Navajo weavings, and the beautiful art that has evolved since. Thanks to reproductions of JB Moore's 1903 and 1911 catalogs we are able to identify his original style. On our site, you’ll find his one-of-a-kind rug design, as well as those that have been inspired by his methods. Some modern scholars likened Steve Getzwiller to be the modern day J.B. Moore.
