The piece is one of the finest "Burntwater" style pieces in recent history. The Burntwater Trading Post is located in the southeastern part of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The Roan family weavers are well known in this region for both Burntwater and "Wide Ruins" trading post styles. Nellie Roan was famous at the time of the purchase of this rug and her work commands prices at the top of market values today. Her work is not commonly available now but it is highly regarded by collectors of superior textiles. This example was extremely finely woven in the classic Burntwater style that features a bordered, Persian-like pattern with soft pastel colors. In this intricate design Nellie Roan created a central hexagonal design of elaborate concentric, serrated elements. Seven vegetal dye colors where utilized with highlights, all set against a vegetal gray field. More than one hundred wefts per square inch are woven in "Z"-twist, hand-spun, sheep wool yarns. The warp is also hand-spun. This textile was purchased at the Toh-Atin Trading Co. in Durango Colorado in July, 1980, for $10,500. It is a truly magnificant piece.