Teec Nos Pos Navajo Rugs — Bold Borders, Vivid Color & the Most Intricate Design in the Tradition

Among all regional Navajo weaving traditions, the Teec Nos Pos occupies a singular position: widely regarded as the most intricately detailed and visually complex style ever produced on the Navajo reservation. Collectors either love it immediately or it's not for them — there is almost no middle ground. The Gordon Collection has been acquiring exceptional Teec Nos Pos weavings for over 50 years, and our inventory reflects a sustained commitment to the finest examples of this demanding tradition.

The story of Teec Nos Pos begins in 1905, when trader Hambleton Noel received permission from headman Blackhorse — following a trial before several hundred local Navajos — to establish the trading post at Teec Nos Pos, named from the Navajo Tiis nazbas, meaning "circle of cottonwood trees." After eight years, Noel sold to the partnership of Bert Dustin and Al Foutz — the beginning of the Foutz trading empire that would come to span the northern reaches of the Navajo Nation. When Russel Foutz took ownership in the 1940s, the "Teec" style of weaving was already established as something distinctive: bold, vibrant, multi-bordered textiles with Persian and Oriental rug influences worked into an unmistakably Navajo design sensibility. Foutz continued to develop and promote it, and the Foutz family's influence on this tradition is as central to its identity as any weaver.

What makes a Teec Nos Pos immediately recognizable is its border system — broad, design-laden borders filled with repeated geometric hooks, stylized feathers, forked zigzag lines, and intricate interlocking elements that would be the centerpiece of any other regional style. Here they are the frame. Within that border, the field typically features a central diamond or double-diamond motif surrounded by complementary geometric forms, often woven in bright aniline dyes that give these textiles their characteristic vibrancy — blues, greens, rich reds, and oranges applied with a confidence and density found nowhere else in Navajo weaving. The finest Teec Nos Pos pieces, particularly those from the 1910s through 1940s woven in fine hand-spun yarns, can take a year or more to complete and represent some of the most technically ambitious textiles in the entire tradition.

The Teec Nos Pos Trading Post remains active today, a continuing center of commerce and culture in the Four Corners region. The Gordon Collection carries both antique and contemporary Teec Nos Pos weavings. Contact our Telluride gallery for pieces not listed online, including early Foutz-era examples and runner-format weavings.