The Pueblo Potter - A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art [SOLD]

THE PUEBLO POTTER a Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art

By Ruth L. Bunzel

Softcover; 134 pages, illustrations in color and black and white.

First published in 1929 by Columbia University Press, New York

This Dover edition, first published in 1972, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published by Columbia University Press, New York, in 1929.

Penetrating study of Pueblo ceramic art—materials, methods, decorative elements, use of color, etc.—plus ideas, feelings and attitudes toward craft.  Twenty full-page plates show water jars, bowls, drums and other ceramic artifacts (both modern and classical) of the Acoma, Zuni, San Ildefonso and Hopi, and 18 further plates, most of them in two colors, reproduce over 150 design motifs-dragonflies, cloud stripes, deer house, water birds, all sorts of cloud designs, feather designs, and many more. There is a wealth of material here for the craftsman, potter, designer or commercial artist who wants to use these designs either directly or as suggestions for his own work.

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Technique and Form

III. The Principles of Design

            Zuni

            Acoma

            Hopi

            San Ildefonso

IV. The Personal Element in Design

            The planning of design

            The sources of design

            Criticism

            Instruction

            The range of variability

            Individuality in design

V. Symbolism

VI. Stability of Decorative Style

            Survey of the history of pottery in the Southwest

            Ceramic history of Zuni and Hopi regions

            Relative stability of technique and style

            Relative stability of religious and secular art

VII. Conclusion

Appendix I. Zuni Designs

Appendix II. Hopi Designs

Appendix III. San Ildefonso Designs