Indian Baskets of the Southwest


Book Description

With the same clarity and attention to detail for which she has become known throughout the world as an authority on Indian craft arts, Tanner now reveals the wide range of Southwest Indian basketry in this handsome volume.




Southwestern Indian Baskets


Book Description

A complete and comprehensive history of the craft of basket-making. Includes a discussion of the concept of basketry as a form of art.




Indian Basket Weaving


Book Description

The methods of Indian basket weaving explained in this excellent manual are the very ones employed by native practitioners of the craft. members of the Navajo School of Basketry have set down their secrets in clear and simple language, enabling even the beginner to create work that can rival theirs in grace, design, and usefulness. Beginning with basic techniques, choice of materials, preparation of the reed, splicing, the introduction of color, principles and methods of design, shaping the basket and weaves from many cultures, such as Lazy Squaw, Mariposa, Taos, Samoan, Klikitat, and Shilo, each accompanied by specific instructions. There are suggestions for the weaving of shells, beads, feathers, fan palms, date palms, and even pine needles, and recipes for the preparation of dyes. Examples of each type of basket are illustrated by photographs, often taken from more than one angle so that the bottom can be seen as well as the top and sides. Close-up photography of the various types of stitching, especially at the crucial stage of beginning the basket, is an invaluable aid to the weaver. In addition, the authors have provided line drawings which are exceptionally clear magnifications of the various weave patterns. Anyone who follows the lessons contained in this book will have a knowledge of basketry unattainable in any other way. They are so lucid and complete that the amateur as well as the experienced weaver will be able to manufacture baskets distinguishable from authentic native articles only in that they were not woven by Indians. For those who merely seek a broader knowledge of American Indian arts, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject of basketry.




American Indian Basketry


Book Description

The origins of basketry are lost in the mists of prehistory, but making baskets is certainly one of the oldest and most nearly universal crafts of mankind. In the Americas, basket artifacts found in caves in Utah have been dated at 7000 B.C., while twined baskets said to be at least 5,000 years old have been uncovered in Peru. In the American Southwest, an entire Indian culture (ca. 100–700 A.D.) is known as "Basket Maker" because of the distinctive baskets it produced. This exhaustive survey (two volumes in one) of American Indian basketry, perhaps the finest book ever published on the subject, documents basketmaking throughout the Americas — in Eastern North America, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, Western Canada, Oregon, California and the Interior Basin, as well as Mexico, Central and South America. Spanning a wide range of indigenous cultures (Aleutian, Tlinkit, Shoshonean, Athapascam, etc.), the detailed, carefully researched discussions in this book offer a wealth of information about woven and coiled basketry, watertight basketry, materials, basketmaking techniques and preparation, ornamentation and symbolism, as well as the uses of baskets as receptacles, in preparing and serving food, for gleaning and milling, in mortuary customs, in religion and social life, in trapping, carrying water, and in many other areas of Indian life. An interesting and informative chapter on collectors and collections and the preservation of baskets, followed by a helpful biography, rounds out the book. In addition, the author, once Curator of Ethnology at the U.S. National Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution), enhanced this encyclopedic study with over 450 excellent photographs and illustrations. For collectors, preservationists, anthropologists, students of crafts and culture, modern basketmakers, this is an indispensable reference — a massively rich source of information about baskets, the peoples who made them, how they were made, and their role in native American life and culture.




Southwest Indian Designs Coloring Book


Book Description

Clearly rendered illustrations on 30 pages display authentic designs taken from rugs, masks, sandpaintings, pottery, jewelry, baskets, and other artifacts created by southwestern Native Americans. Geometrical designs on a Navajo woven saddlebag, a Chumash rock painting of mythical creatures, a Hopi kachina doll, an Apache "crown headdress," and more.




California Indian Baskets


Book Description

California Indian Baskets is lavishly illustrated in full color with rare baskets from the magnificent collections of the University of California, Harvard University, Smithsonian Institution, The British Museum, Madrid's Museo de America, Royal Museum of Scotland, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Southwest Museum and many other world-class museums and private collections. The vast majority of these rare baskets have never appeared in print before. Made possible in part through the support and vision of three California Indian tribes, this remarkable book is the result of decades of research by noted basketry scholar Ralph Shanks. Expertly researched and well written, California Indian Baskets honors the achievements of the First Californians. The book illuminates Native American art, history, technology, population movements, cultural interactions, and native plant uses. The book demonstrates basketry studies can rank with archeology, linguistics and DNA research in understanding and appreciating Native American culture and history. This is especially true in California where baskets were central to daily life. It was through basketry that the most populous and linguistically diverse Native American population in the United States was able to create a highly productive economy and vibrant cultural life with no agriculture and very limited use of pottery. Native California was not "pre-agricultural," but rather a land where basketry was combined with native plant resources so successfully that agriculture was not needed.




American Indian Baskets


Book Description

Over 750 color photographs illustrate this long-awaited guide for collectors of vintage Native American basketry. Decades of basketry research inform the text, guiding basket lovers to a better understanding of these woven treasures. Clear images and concise descriptions, presented in an extended gallery showcasing hundreds of baskets, delineate specific tribal styles within Native North America's nine basketry regions: Southwest, Great Basin, California, Plateau, Northwest Coast, Arctic and Subarctic, Plains, Southeast, and Northeast. Unique to this book is an in-depth comparison of imported baskets being passed off as American Indian work. The cultural and historical background as well as the influence of the "Indian basket craze" are also examined. Valuable guidance on buying, selling, and caring for baskets includes a frank discussion of legal issues impacting basket collectors. Rounding out this essential reference are comprehensive regional bibliographies, Internet resource listings, and a directory of American museums exhibiting Native American baskets.







Decorative Art of the Southwestern Indians


Book Description

The decorative art of the Indians of the American Southwest has long been recognized as one of the most beautiful art traditions in the primitive world. It demonstrates a technical skill with simple materials, a symbolic richness, and a faculty for creating rich effects by the imaginative use of ornament that are all almost unique. Museums use Pueblo ceramics for display pieces, and modern artists and crafters have turned eagerly to the handwork of prehistoric Indian women for inspiration and working ideas. Mrs. Dorothy Sides, a noted artist and collector, has gathered together and redrawn in black and white nearly 300 examples of the finest authentic Southwestern Indian decoration that she has seen in a lifetime of study. She has not limited her selection to one period or style, however; to make her book as useful as possible, she has selected material ranging from the thirteenth century great geometric art of the Pueblos to the handcrafts carried on by the nomadic and Pueblo peoples of the present. The main emphasis of this volume is on ceramic decoration, and Mrs. Sides includes pieces from the rich archeological sites of Pecos, Sikyatki, the Mimbres, and modern Pueblo pottery from Acoma, Zuni, Cochiti, and the Hopi. She also includes designs and motifs from the basketry of the Apache, Pima, and Papago; beadwork from the Mohave; authentic Zuni masks; Hopi kachina dolls; and sand paintings and blanket designs from the Navajo. This broad coverage of beautiful ornament illustrates many different art styles to fit every situation: geometric designs based upon balanced mirror fields of design, symbolic figures of the thunderbird, and modern stylizations. All is beautiful and imaginative. Any crafter working with ceramics will find this book indispensable as a source of rich, easily used, powerful design; workers in wood, weavers, metal workers, and leather workers will find that it will enlarge their decorative resources considerably. It also offers unusual and eye-catching designs for commercial artists who wish to do work suggesting travel, handcrafts, the Southwest, or the social sciences. Individual drawings are royalty-free and may be reproduced without fee or permission. "Worthy of an honored place in the library of aboriginal American art." — F. H. Hodge, Director, Southwestern Museum.




Pima_indian_basketry


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.