Woven Worlds : Basketry from the Clark Field Collection at the Philbrook Museum of Art [SOLD]

From the book:

A truly exquisite catalog of the rich basketry traditions of native North America. The Field collection at the Philbrook Museum of Art is acknowledged as one of the most comprehensive basketry collections in North America. This magnificent volume collects for the first time, in its entirety, the information associated with the Field Collection. Field began his collecting endeavor as a hobby, but it soon became an obsession to collect from every basket-making tribe specimens of “authenticity” made for actual use within each tribe. The collection consists of more than 1000 baskets and spans eight distinct culture areas: the Southwest, California, Intermountain West, Northwest Coast, Arctic/Subarctic, Prairie and Plains, the Eastern Woodlands and the Southeast. A fantastic volume, with wonderful images and text, critically examining the role of stereotype, misconception, and strives to discuss issues of diversity, continuity and change, and the living, vital lives and works of Native American cultures, past and present.

Basketry has been woven into the rich tapestry of the Native American cultures for centuries. Native American basket weavers have transformed twigs, grasses, roots, ferns, and bark into works of art that are unsurpassed for their beauty and technological skill … This is the first time Philbrook has published information in the collection in its entirety.

What started as a hobby for Clark Field, a Tulsa businessman, the collecting of Native American basketry soon became an obsession resulting in a collection of more than one thousand baskets. Field’s goal to “collect authentic specimens of baskets made for actual use by all basket-making tribes” resulted in a collection of extraordinary baskets that tell of the remarkable adaptability of native peoples and how basketry enabled many of their traditions and values to continue.

Following Clark Field’s travels in his endeavor to amass his basketry collection, we learn about the weavers and their baskets from eight major cultural areas [mentioned above]. A color map at the end of each cultural area is enhanced by the description of the area and its indigenous cultures, historical information (related to basketry use and technology), and a discussion of basket weavers (including some interviews with weavers and/or their families).

The diversity and resiliency of Native American peoples an their basketry traditions as they respond to change over time are highlighted throughout this catalogue. Baskets reflect the social, cultural, and environmental experience of the weavers and their communities. Collectors influenced basketry traditions and stimulated an interface between Native American and European-American worlds. By connecting the past to the present, this catalogue challenges stereotype sand strives to broaden public understanding as it addresses the diversity, continuity, and vitality of Native American cultures and celebrates the ongoing art of basket weaving.