Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo16amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
DECORATIVE VALVE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ART 305 that is far more artistic than the hard solid cokir applied to so much of our modern fabrics. The effect is much more like block printing, although there is no evidence that the Indians were familiar with that process. The black is a peculiarly attractive tone, "rusty" describing it as nearly as w^ords can. It has a much softer effect than our com- mercial black and is well worth copying. The white is a dull gray white which is beautiful to look at but most difficult to duplicate. The preponderance of these two colors harmonizes the variety of bright colors used in Indian designs. The patterns shown in the Indian weaving, whatever the material, are wonderfully suggestive to the designer of textiles. There is not the variety of motive found in the Persian and Italian textiles but there are strength, simplicity, and fine proportion. The texture of the fabric itself, especially the best of the Navajo blankets, makes a humiliating contrast with the flimsv weaves of our
Text Appearing After Image:
riiis design ol l)lack spikes upon a bright yellow ground was obtained from a Pawnee skin coat, deco- rated with quill bands on the shoulders and down the front modern looms. Some of the coarser weaves shown in the bags of the Wood- land tribes, would be well adapted to materials for bungalow furnishings. The woven bead bands give many suggestions

Note About Images