North American Indian Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive)

Book Synopsis: This ample, carefully researched volume contains more than 360 royalty-free designs, each meticulously rendered from embellishments on Indian blankets, pottery, blankets, clothing, carvings, paintings, metalwork, or other artifacts in various museums and private collections. The illustrations span 2,000 years — from prehistoric pipe bowls carved in stone that date back to 100 B.C., to 20th-century painted pottery designs that are based on traditional motifs.

Florals, hunting scenes, stylized plants and animals, mythological figures, geometrics, double-curve motifs, feather designs, pictographs, border patterns, and many other designs have been selected and reproduced from the painted pottery of the Hopi, Hohokam, and Pueblo Indians; Navajo blankets and silverwork; wampum belts, quill work from Métis skin coats; parfleches (rawhide containers), buffalo hides, and ceremonial pipes of the Sioux and other Plains Indians; antler combs of the Susquehannock and Seneca Iroquois; carved and painted masks; Chilkat blankets, spindle whorls, baskets and basket hats from the Northwest Coast; and many other examples of native North American art.

In addition to the wealth of authentic pictorial images, the author has provided an informative introduction outlining the principal developments in Indian arts and crafts with particular reference to the techniques used in pottery, basketry, weaving, and more. Notes on the designs give dates, dimensions, present locations of the artifacts and other data, while a bibliography suggests books for further reading.

Artists and craftspeople seeking genuine Indian designs will find this easily affordable, royalty-free volume an abundant source of timeless images. Students, teachers, art and cultural historians, as well as anyone interested in Indian art will welcome this impressive array of fine designs produced by the native people of North America.