Salish weaving
Type
Book
Authors
ISBN 10
0295957557
ISBN 13
9780295957555
Category
General Library Collection
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Publication Year
1980
Publisher
Pages
131
Subject
Weaving
Abstract
"Salish weaving, like Haida sculpture, Hopi pottery, Anasazi architecture, Pomo basketry and Pueblo and Navajo sandpainting, is one of the great aborignal arts of North America. For at least twelve centuries the Salish people of the Pacific Northwest coast have spun mountain goat hair and other fibres, and produced weavings which exhibit great technical skill, a sophisticated sense of colour and design, and an exciting vocabulary of emotional symbolism.
Although the art was nearly lost, like so much else during the era of European encroachment and colonization, enough of the old knowledge survived to enable a revival during the 1960s, when a group of dedicated Salish women again began weaving in the ancient ways.
Paula Gustafson probes meticulously into the history and prehistory of Salish weaving, and documents its recent revival. Known historical styles are discussed and compared, and the book includes, as an invaluable appendix, a catalogue of all traditional Salish weavings known to exist in museum collections throughout the world.
More than 100 black-and-white photographs and several colour plates exhibit these traditional weavings, the processes by which they were made, and the methods by which the art has been revived. Many helpful line drawings clarify technical questions, illustrating processes, artifacts and design distinctions.
Detailed information is also provided on the collection, preparation and use of basic fibres — mountain goat hair, nettle and Indian hemp, cedar bark, and the modern favorite, hand-spun sheep's wool — as well as such supplemental fibres as cattail, cottongrass, milkweed, fireweed and Salish dog hair. Another appendix discusses the contemporary use of natural dyes.
For the scholar and layman, the student of the arts and the practising weaver, the interested browser and the serious collector, this is the book in its field." -Book jacket.
Although the art was nearly lost, like so much else during the era of European encroachment and colonization, enough of the old knowledge survived to enable a revival during the 1960s, when a group of dedicated Salish women again began weaving in the ancient ways.
Paula Gustafson probes meticulously into the history and prehistory of Salish weaving, and documents its recent revival. Known historical styles are discussed and compared, and the book includes, as an invaluable appendix, a catalogue of all traditional Salish weavings known to exist in museum collections throughout the world.
More than 100 black-and-white photographs and several colour plates exhibit these traditional weavings, the processes by which they were made, and the methods by which the art has been revived. Many helpful line drawings clarify technical questions, illustrating processes, artifacts and design distinctions.
Detailed information is also provided on the collection, preparation and use of basic fibres — mountain goat hair, nettle and Indian hemp, cedar bark, and the modern favorite, hand-spun sheep's wool — as well as such supplemental fibres as cattail, cottongrass, milkweed, fireweed and Salish dog hair. Another appendix discusses the contemporary use of natural dyes.
For the scholar and layman, the student of the arts and the practising weaver, the interested browser and the serious collector, this is the book in its field." -Book jacket.
Description
131 pages : illustrations (part color) ; 31 cm
Biblio Notes
Includes index.
Number of Copies
1
