Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures
Photographer Andrea Portago saw her first kachina in the early seventies in the studio of George Terasaki, from whom her friend and collaborator Andy Warhol was buying Native American art. When Alan Kessler's collection of kachinas was auctioned at Sotheby's in 1997, an extraordinary collection of classic kachina figures was unveiled that served as the impetus for Portago's exploration of the carvings. Presented here are classic-era (1880s-1940s) Hopi and Zuni carved dolls that have rarely been displayed. Portago gracefully photographed these rare figures using available light so as not to distort their colors, and to reveal their drama and passion.
Guide to Navajo Rugs
Describes and depicts the seventeen most common Navajo rug styles, and includes quotes by some of the finest weavers crafting rugs today. Photos of rugs from Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site by George H. H. Huey.
Navajo Rugs Essential Guide
For twenty-one years Navajo Rugs has been the essential text for anyone interested in this fascinating art form. This second revised edition includes up-to-date photographs of all the major rug styles, a concise discussion of the history of the art, an outline of the process of making rugs from raising the wool to weaving it, and frank discussions on how to choose and care for quality rugs.
Southwestern Pottery A-Z
When this book first appeared in 1996, it was "Pottery 101," a basic introduction to the subject. It served as an art book, a history book, and a reference book, but also fun to read, beautiful to look at, and filled with good humor and good sense. After twenty years of faithful service, it's been expanded and brought up-to-date with photographs of more than 1,600 pots from more than 1,600 years. It shows every pottery-producing group in the Southwest, complete with maps that show where each group lives. Now updated, rewritten, and re-photographed, it's a comprehensive study as well as a basic introduction to the art.
Spider Womans Gift
At Canyon de Chelly, in the heart of the Navajo Nation, stands an eight-hundred-foot sandstone rock formation known as Spider Rock. According to Diné oral history, this sacred place is where Spider Woman makes her home. For centuries, her gift of weaving has provided the Diné with a constant means of sustenance.
Turquoise, Water, Sky
This book provides an overview of the uses of turquoise in native arts of the Southwest, beginning with the earliest people who mined and processed the stone for use in jewelry, on decorative objects, and as a powerful element in ceremony. In the past, as now, turquoise was valued for its color and beauty but also for its symbolic nature: sky, water, health, protection, abundance. The book traces historical and contemporary jewelry made by Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and Santo Domingo artisans, and the continuously inventive ways the stone has been worked.