Handwoven fabrics are the living history and cultural treasure of the Peruvian highlands. The weavers who create these extraordinary textiles are keepers of the culture and sustainers of a noble but difficult lifestyle in tune with the earth. Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands celebrates their authentic, well-crafted work by showing: Varied and distinctive styles of traditional clothing, the way the traditional crafts are passed from one generation to another, names and meaning of the myriad textile designs that reflect the culture and history of the people, and rituals and celebrations in which woven fabrics plays such an important role. Whether actually travelling to the Cusco region or armchair travelling, Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands is the essential guide to understanding and appreciating the area's wealth of textiles and charming, inventive weavers who create them. "The armchair traveller will be amazed at the variety of designs . . . An excellent choice for ethnic textile collections in academic and large public libraries." Library Journal

Baskets made of baleen, the fibrous substance found in the mouths of plankton-eating whales-a malleable and durable material that once had commercial uses equivalent to those of plastics today-were first created by Alaska Natives in the early years of the twentieth century. Because they were made for the tourist trade, they were initially disdained by scholars and collectors, but today they have joined other art forms as a highly prized symbol of native identity. Baskets of exquisite workmanship, often topped with fanciful ivory carvings, have been created for almost a century, contributing significantly to the livelihood of their makers in the Arctic villages of Barrow, Point Hope, Wainwright, and Point Lay, Alaska. Baleen Basketry of the North Alaskan Eskimo, originally published in 1983, was the first book on this unusual basket form. In this completely redesigned edition, it remains the most informative work on baleen baskets, covering their history, characteristics, and construction, as well as profiling their makers. Illustrations of the basketmakers at work and line drawings showing the methods of construction are a charming addition to this book, which belongs in the library of all those with an interest in the art of basketry and in Alaskan Native arts in general.

When John Becker's Pattern and Loom was posthumously published in 1987, the work was hailed as an important work that revealed much new knowledge on the development of weaving techniques across the centuries from China through to Europe. The key to the book's almost forensic investigation of its subject was the author himself, a Danish damask weaver with a lifetime's practical experience in his craft and an intimate knowledge of weaving techniques that allowed him to decipher, experiment and interpret original techniques from small remnants of surviving material. Long out of print, the work has been tidied and reset by Becker's collaborator on the original work, the sinologist Don Wagner.

The Chiapas Highlands comprise a remote and relatively unknown area of Mexico that possesses among the most interesting, varied, and masterful textile traditions in the world. Separated by extreme terrain and distinct climates, villages in this region have developed weaving techniques and styles of dress that have persisted for centuries. In this richly illustrated, bilingual book, readers will visit 20 villages, learn their history and folklore, get an insider's look at their festivals, traditions, and daily lives, and revel in their stunning handwoven cloth. Ritual transvestites, Virgin statues draped with native blouses, village officials wearing tunics designed to look like howler monkey fur, men and women alike in elaborately floral shawls and ponchos-these are just a few of the unforgettable images captured in this book.

"Mountain Homespun will be of special interest to those studying southern Appalachian handicrafts, the 1890s handicraft revival, and northern Protestant missionary work in turn-of-the-century Appalachia." --North Carolina Historical Review
"Mountain Homespun is much more than a memoir. It offers unrivaled specific information on the processes of mountain crafts--not only on weaving, spinning, and dyeing, the author's primary interest, but also on basketry, quilting, and other pursuits. All in all, the book is an important publishing event."
--Berea College Newsletter
"This is a wonderful book. It belongs at the bedside of every spinner and weaver everywhere." --Jude Daurelle, Handwoven

Picture a throng of tiny devils and angels, or a marching band so small it can fit in the palm of your hand. In a Mixtec town in the Mexican state of Puebla, craftspeople have been weaving palm since before the Spanish Conquest, but over the past forty years that art has become more finely tuned and has won national acceptance in a market nostalgic for an authentic Indian past. In this book, Katrin Flechsig offers the first in-depth ethnographic and historical examination of the miniature palm craft industry, taking readers behind the scenes of craft production in order to explain how and why these folk arts have undergone miniaturization over the past several decades. In describing this "Lilliputization of Mexico," she discusses the appeal of miniaturization, revealing how such factors as tourism and the construction of national identity have contributed to an ongoing demand for the tiny creations. She also contrasts the playfulness of the crafts with the often harsh economic and political realities of life in the community. Flechsig places the crafts of Chigmecatitlan within the contexts of manufacturing, local history, religion, design and technique, and selling. She tells how innovation is introduced into the craft, such as through the modification of foreign designs in response to market demands. She also offers insights into capitalist penetration of folk traditions, the marketing of folk arts, and economic changes in modern Mexico. And despite the fact that the designations "folk" and "Indian" help create a romantic fiction surrounding the craft, Flechsig dispels common misperceptions of the simplicity of this folk art by revealing the complexities involved in its creation. More than thirty illustrations depict not only finished miniatures but also the artists and their milieu. Today miniatures serve not only the tourist market; middle-class Mexicans also collect miniatures to such an extent that it has been termed a national pastime. Flechsig's work opens up this miniature world and shows us the extent to which it has become a lasting and important facet of contemporary Mexican culture.

According to the Navajos, the holy people Spider Man and Spider Woman first brought the tools for weaving to the People. Over the centuries Navajo artists have used those tools to weave a web of beauty--a rich tradition that continues to the present day. In testimony to this living art form, this book presents 74 dazzling color plates of Navajo rugs and wall hangings woven between 1971 and 1996. Drawn from a private southwestern collection, they represent the work of sixty of the finest native weavers in the American Southwest. The creations depicted here reflect a number of styles--revival, sandpainting, pictorial, miniature, sampler--and a number of major regional variations, from Ganado to Teec Nos Pos. Textile authority Ann Hedlund provides an introductory narrative about the development of Navajo textile collecting--including the shift of attention from artifacts to art--and a brief review of the history of Navajo weaving. She then comments on the shaping of the particular collection represented in the book, offering a rich source of knowledge and insight for other collectors. Explaining themes in Navajo weaving over the quarter-century represented by the Santa Fe Collection, Hedlund focuses on the development of modern rug designs and the influence on weavers of family, community, artistic identity, and the marketplace. She also introduces each section of plates with a description of the representative style, its significance, and the weavers who perpetuate and deviate from it. In addition to the textile plates, Hedlundas color photographs show the families, landscapes, livestock, hogans, and looms that surround todayas Navajo weavers. "Navajo Weaving in the Late TwentiethCentury" explores many of the important connections that exist today among weavers through their families and neighbors, and the significant role that collectors play in perpetuating this dynamic art form. For all who appreciate American Indian art and culture, this book provides invaluable guidance to the fine points of collecting and a rich visual feast.

The fundamental gesture of weaving in "The Craft of Zeus" is the interlacing of warp and woof described by Plato in "The Statesman"--an interweaving signifying the union of opposites. From rituals symbolizing--even fabricating--the cohesion of society to those proposed by oracles as a means of propitiating fortune; from the erotic and marital significance of weaving and the woven robe to the use of weaving as a figure for language and the fabric of the text, this lively and lucid book defines the logic of one of the central concepts in Greek and Roman thought--a concept that has persisted, woof and warp crossing again and again, as the fabric of human history has unfolded.

Learn how to make colorful, gorgeously patterned rugs using the 200-year-old techniques of the Shakers. The author researched and analyzed textiles at five historic Shaker village sites before developing a method to create new versions of these classics. You'll learn how ten original rugs were woven and then get detailed instructions on how to make ten reproduction rugs, with full explanations of the dyeing, the warp material, the weft materials, and how to weave, as well as instructions for weaving Shaker tapes. Learn about the history of the Shakers in America and the impact of their craftsmanship on our arts tradition. Like all items used in daily Shaker life, these rugs have three outstanding characteristics: they are unusual in their design, they are perfect for the purpose they are meant to serve, and they are beautiful in quality.

These 50 interesting and entertaining projects are designed to teach beginners the basic skills of the Maori craft of plaiting.Fun with Flax shows how to make items ranging from a simple windmill, a dart and a whistle to more complex puzzles, balls, birds, fish and even a caterpillar. Each project is described one step at a time with easy-to-follow line drawings and instructions. All are fun and will delight children and adults with their ingenuity, their beauty and the amusement they provide. This book is ideal for kohanga reo, playcentres, kindergartens, Maori crafts groups and New Zealand homes. It aims not only to teach the skills of plaiting to young New Zealanders but also to nurture a new generation of flaxworkers. Mick Pendergrast first became interested in plaiting and other Maori crafts while teaching in small communities in the East Cape area. He has spent time as a VSA teacher in the Solomon Islands and on the remote Polynesian outlier of Tikopia, and has worked in a number of New Zealand's major museums. He is the author of Te Mahi Kete- Maori Basketry for Beginners, Feathers and Fibre, a catalogue of the first major exhibition of Maori flaxcrafts, of which he was the curator, and Raranga Whakairo, a collection of plaiting patterns.