Product Description
First Nation's artist Robert E Stanley Sr shares his knowledge and technique in rendering classic Northwest Native drawings. Now you too, can learn to draw some of the legendary animals of the First Nation's tribes, by learning Robert's technique's passed down to him from generation to generation. ... Read more

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Learning the Basic Forms of Northwest Native Arts
Unlike the companion books "Northwest Native Arts: Creative Colors 1 & 2" this is NOT a child's coloring book! This book gives detailed instructions on how to draw the ovoids, the "u", the split "u", the "L" and the "S" shapes needed to create artwork like the Northwest Coast Native American artisans do. If you are looking for a down and dirty "how-to" book, this is a good place to start. However; if you are looking for an in-depth analysis of the symbology of the Northwest Indian arts this would not be a good book for you. ... Read more

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When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery on their epic journey across the American West, they were acting not only as territorial explorers but as diplomatic emissaries from the young United States to the Native American people they encountered. Castle McLaughlin's fresh examination of the Native American objects related to Lewis and Clark's expedition brilliantly challenges the conventional wisdom about these men and their mission as scientists, collectors, and explorers and places their journey in the context of a complex process of mutual discovery between representatives of very different cultures. In "Arts of Diplomacy," Native Americans are revealed as active participants in the outcome of the expedition, selecting objects of significance to bestow as gifts or use in trade, and skillfully negotiating their own strategic interests in their dealings with the exploring party. McLaughlin makes it clear that Lewis and Clark were not acting as 'collectors' of exotic material culture, but rather were dealing on a much more even playing field with cultural representatives whose goodwill - and goods - were critical to the success of their enterprise.The vehicle for this innovative and illuminating analysis is the collection of late - eighteenth - and early nineteenth-century Native American objects from the Prairie, Plains, and Pacific Northwest at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. The magnificent objects in the Peabody Museum's collection, presented in lavish color photography, are analyzed in detail and traced through documentation to their probable sources - both tribal makers and users and likely collectors. Long thought to be the only remaining ethnographic items collected by Lewis and Clark, the objects are here exposed to intense scrutiny by a team of anthropologists, art historians, and material culture specialists. McLaughlin's interpretation is a model for how, through informed contextual analysis, objects can be used to tell stories. Her text gives voice to the calumets, buffalo robes, and basketry pieces that served as items of gifting and exchange in cross-cultural encounters.Contemporary Native American voices are heard here as well, in essays by and about Wasco fiber artist Pat Courtney Gold, Mandan-Hidatsa flute player Keith Bear, Hunkpapa Lakota painter Butch Thunder Hawk, Lakota quillwork artist Jo Esther Parshall, Mandan-Hidatsa community activist Mike Cross, and others. Far from being participants in a 'First Encounter,' as the Lewis and Clark expedition is so often portrayed, the objects tell a story of Native peoples already deeply engaged in a far-reaching exchange of goods and materialsosophisticated traders and cultural brokers with networks of exchange that spanned the globe from eastern Europe to the South Pacific decades before the arrival of Lewis and Clark. As historian James P. Ronda writes in his Foreword, 'Built on the best historical and anthropological sources, and informed by current critical theory, "Arts of Diplomacy" gives voice to seemingly mute objects and lets readers hear Native voices in the expedition conversation.' Castle McLaughlin is a social anthropologist who writes frequently on the American West, past and present, and Native American art and visual culture.She is associate curator of Native American ethnography at the Peabody Museum. ... Read more

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MONUMENTAL- - - BEAUTIFUL
Even from the very cover this book has taken the right approach!
Where countless others have tried to give insights to an array of
Native subjects and materials, this one overwhelmingly succeeds
setting new standards. The depth of study and the richly detailed photographs make this a masterpiece!!!! ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive guide to identifying and understanding Southwest Indian jewelry, pottery, basketry, weaving,
and carvings

The Field Guide to Southwest Indian Arts and Crafts includes
         ¸  Descriptive captions for 210 color and 50 black-and-white photographs
         ¸  Clear and compelling explanations of centuries-old techniques
         ¸  The featured work of more than two hundred leading Southwest Indian artisans
         ¸  Information on visiting the reservations        
         ¸  Cultural histories of more than thirty tribes, including the Navajo, Hopi,
         Zuni, and Pueblo

The Pages offer expert advice on
         ¸  How to spot the unmistakable signs of excellence in an object
         ¸  How to judge the quality of turquoise
         ¸  How to determine the value of a Navajo rug by its weave, design, color
changes, and artist
         ¸  What questions you should ask (and the answers you should hear) before
you buy Indian arts and crafts        
 ¸  How to identify imitations and fakes ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent overview of Southwestern Art
Ya'at'eeh!As the editor/author of The Native American Indian Artist Directory, I found the Pages' book to be a perfect companion book.I would suggest reading the Field Guide first to learn about the arts and craftsthat interest you, then read The Native American Indian Artist Directory tofind the artists that produce the items you're interested in collecting foryourself.The two books together will help you have a wonderful experiencein "Indian Country."Happy Trails! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Required Reading
I have owned this book for about 40 years.I have read it through and through a number of times.Many black and white pictures of artifacts as well as drawings, maps, etc. If you have any interest in the Southeastern Indians, this is not just a recommendation but a requirement.

Sun Circles and Human Hands
Book proved to be an excellent resource. Pictures were black and white throughout the book, but very clear.Descriptions were concise and detailed.

Interesting
I got this book because it was recommended to me during a Native American pottery class I took as a good resource for history and designs of the eastern Woodland tribes.It is very helpful in that regard.

Required Reading
Around for nearly 50 years, this classic book is a requirement for anyone studying the archaeology and iconography of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. ... Read more

Product Description
Indian Arts is a fascinating introduction to the arts and crafts reflected in the material culture of North American Indians. Knowledge of the skills and techniques developed by the various tribes, and the fine materials produced provides a key to understanding the rich diversity of native cultures. Packed with information and authentic full-color illustrations, this handsome guide will be welcomed by everyone interested in American cultural history.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

small encyclopedia
I liked it very much; small, easy to read and to understand ; answersthe questions who, where, how, when,and is realy fully illustrated

A very useful little book
When searching for "guides" to various subjects, the Golden Guides are often overlooked in favor of more expensive books. That would be a mistake, especially in the case of this Guide to North American Indian Arts. While available space necessarily eliminates some things, it is hard to imagine a better introduction to the different types of pottery, basketry and general material culture found among Native Americans than you will find in this little volume. I'm particularly impressed with the information on the different basket-weaving patterns found among the tribal cultures. I would recommend it to parents seeking reliable information for their children's school reports, but I would also encourage adults who like collecting in this field to consider this book. It gives good basic information, and has the added advantage of fitting in your pocket.

A small, nearly complete reference work on the art of Native Americans.
In this book you are presented with an encyclopedia of the art performed by Native Americans. The various art forms are split into categories based on the raw materials and function of the work and the categories are as follows.

*) Pottery
*) Baskets
*) Textiles
*) Skinwork
*) Applied decoration
*) Woodwork
*) Stonework
*) Bone, antler and horn
*) Shellwork
*) Metalwork
*) Featherwork

Subcategories based on region are also used.
Detailed color images of almost every form of the artwork are used to complete the explanation of the art forms. This makes the book a small, nearly complete reference work on the art of Native Americans.

Very nice resource on Native American Arts
Detailed drawings depict types and qualities of the multitudes of crafts of varying tribes. As an artist, it is important to see the finishing details of clothing and basket weaves, etc., such as how the pueblo windtheir boots around their legs and tie them, or the type of weaving patternsin their clothing. There are many illustrations of tools, potteries,weapons, etc., how they were made and how to identify between the varioustribes and time periods, identifying the various cultures as well. Verydescriptive narratives. This is a simple, usable and thorough resource.Very interesting. Good for children and adults alike. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume provides a much-needed perspective on contemporary Indian art, offering a dynamic rather than a static way of approaching the subject. Instead of a mere chronicling of modes and elucidation of styles of art which are now well known, the essays, written by scholars, deal with questions which, though often asked, remain open-ended. Within the broad conceptual framework of each essay, the works of individual artists are discussed.

Much of the debate centers on the contentious subject of modernism in Indian art, in its Eurocentric, Asian, contextual, or multicultural form. This preoccupation with modernism, as the essays here reflect, gives way in the '80s to the generating of a greater expressiveness about one's own reality, the plight of the common man, the feminist, and the marginalized. Notions of multiculturalism infect Indian artists of the '90s and there is a confident borrowing from all cultures free of any colonial hangover or self-doubt as they resort to pluralistic modes: installations, earthworks, conceptual, performance, and video art. The changing parameters of post-modernism and diasporic art are also dealt with, and the appendix has extracts from significant writings which relate to the issues of modern Indian art from its formative to its present stage. ... Read more

Product Description
Over 360 authentic copyright-free designs adapted from Navajo blankets and rugs, painted wooden masks, decorated moccasins, Hopi pottery, Sioux buffalo hides, more. Geometrics, symbolic figures, plant and animal motifs, etc. Copyright-free.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Limited use
Not particularly attractive drawings. The designs are devoid of context. Many are sacred and culturally sensitive; legally, I don't see how particular tribes' intellectual property / cultural patrimony can be released as copyright-free images by an unrelated party.

North American Indian Designs
I do gourd pyrography and wanted a source of Indian designs to use in my pyrography. This book contains a nice selection and each group of designs includes an explaination of the design and when it was used.

Sorry Northword, you didn't read far enough
There are notes for each page of designs detailing where the item was found and to what tribe they belong.There are also notes at the bottom of each "design" page.The information IS here.

Bleck - nothing but images, not informative!
This book is half filled with images, none of which have any descriptions as to which tribe the graphics are from.I am very dissapointed because this book is useless to me as an art teacher.If you want a good book on Tribal designs and motifs, check out another resource by Dover, titled, 'Ready-to-Use North American Indian Motifs.'It has 10 x's more graphics and each image is explained as far as tribe and geographical region. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is now reissued with colour illustrations, textual revisions, and an updated bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comprehensive listing, limited explanation.
This book is most appropriate as a companion to other overviews of Indian art.It is useful in that it lists art and architecture items by region.However, it gives little information as to why they are significant, or howthey figure into the overall developmental pattern of Indian art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Contents
Objects of Myth and Memory covers: Stewart Culin as Collector; Stewart Culin's American Indian Exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum; The Southwest Catalogue Entries; California Catalogue Entries; The Northwest Coast Catalogue Entries; The Osage of Oklahoma.
Exhibition Catalogue, 320 pages; 318 catalogued items illustrated in color or b&w; 73 text illustrations, including many photos from the 1911 expedition. One goal of the exhibition was to exhibit and make available to scholars and others items from the permanent collection that were collected by Stewart Culin during the first years of the 1900s. These include items from the Southwest, California, Northwest and Oklahoma. No dust jacket as issued. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent five stars book
For those who are fans of indian cookery, this is the Book. It guirdes the reader step by step to the preparation of the most wonderfull and excellent indian food I've seen. Try it and you will see by yourself. It is a most for any cooking library. ... Read more

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The sensuous human form-elegant and eye-catching-is the dominant feature of premodern Indian art. From the powerful god Shiva, greatest of all yogis and most beautiful of all beings, to stone dancers twisting along temple walls, the body in Indian art is always richly adorned.Alankara (ornament) protects the body and makes it complete and attractive; to be unornamented is to invite misfortune.

InThe Body Adorned, Vidya Dehejia, who has dedicated her career to the study of Indian art, draws on the literature of court poets, the hymns of saints andacharyas, and verses from inscriptions to illuminate premodern India's unique treatment of the sculpted and painted form. She focuses on the coexistence of sacred and sensuous images within the common boundaries of Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu "sacred spaces," redefining terms like "sacred" and "secular" in relation to Indian architecture. She also considers the paradox of passionate poetry, in which saints praised the sheer bodily beauty of the divine form, and nonsacred Rajput painted manuscripts, which freely inserted gods into the earthly realm of the courts.

By juxtaposing visual and literary sources, Dehejia demonstrates the harmony between the sacred and the profane in classical Indian culture. Her synthesis of art, literature, and cultural materials not only generates an all-inclusive picture of the period but also revolutionizes our understanding of the cultural ethos of premodern India.

Customer Reviews (3)

The body's sacred beauty revealed through Indian eyes
"Over the centuries, the sensuous bodily form, female and male, human and divine, has been a dominant feature in the vast and varied canvas of the Indian artistic tradition." So begins this captivating investigation of human beauty based on the art of mankind's oldest civilization.

Vidya Dehejia is a brilliant guide who brings illumination to abstract concepts with an exquisite selection of sculptures, paintings and literary works that span the temporal and geographic breadth of the Indian subcontinent. As evidenced by her previous book, Indian Art, Dehejia has the ideal credentials to succeed in this ambitious new work.

The book includes 72 stunning illustrations, dozens of translations from classic Indian literature, and expert quotes drawn from an extensive bibliography that will certainly inspire further reading. Dehejia takes readers far beyond simple artistic appreciation by addressing philosophical controversies that anthropologists and art historians continue to debate:

Do universal standards of beauty exist, or is one's culture the predominant force shaping the aesthetics of the world around us?

How can sensuality and sexuality coexist with religious art in India?

Do the concepts of "sacred" and "profane"--a keystone of Western philosophy popularized by Mircea Eliade in The Sacred and The Profane: The Nature of Religion--even have meaning in the context of the Indian world view?

To answer these questions the author offers original examples, and draws from historians such as Stella Kramrisch (The Presence of Siva (Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology)) who observed more than half a century ago, "The art of India is neither religious nor secular, for the consistent fabric of Indian life was never rent by the western dichotomy of religious belief and worldly practice."

Dehejia's evidence expands upon this concept, further establishing that "the balance of opinion is in favor of specificity, reinforcing the age-old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder--a beholder attuned to a particular ethos, its cultural mores, its ideals, and its aspirations." Throughout her book, the author then clearly establishes more appropriate paradigms for viewing and appreciating Indian art.

"The Body Adorned" is essential for anyone interested in the art of South and Southeast Asia. But all readers seeking new perspectives about beauty and culture will enjoy this rare, readable book. With the knowledge it contains, the beholder of Indian beauty will grow to experience new realities.

Beautiful Book
This book is lovely and delightful. I am a Silver Collector and this book revealed the beauty and the excellence of Silver work in India. It has certainly broaden my horizons.

Silver Treasure
This exquisite book was the fitting accompaniment to a splendid exhibition hidden away on the Columbia University campus at the end of 2008.This book is a treat for anyone who is interested in the silversmith's art, and in the combination of Indian craftsmanship and decorative English objects of the Victorian era. Each piece is shown in fine detail, and is contextualized with well-written text.A wonderful book! ... Read more