Berber fiatweaves, North African amuletic pendants, Tibetan tiger rugs, Japanese origami, Maori fish hooks, South American carved gourds, Amazonian pottery, Hungarian painted eggs, Venetian glass beads, Pacific totem poles, Shaker boxes...the diversity of the crafts included here is astonishing.

This is the first worldwide survey to cover such an extensive range of crafts. The techniques used in a particular craft, from backstrap weaving and papercutting to metal casting and wood carving, and their history are explained and illustrated, highlighting an incredible and dazzling diversity of styles. Some of the objects included are traditional, while some are modern but made using traditional techniques...

Berber fiatweaves, North African amuletic pendants, Tibetan tiger rugs, Japanese origami, Maori fish hooks, South American carved gourds, Amazonian pottery, Hungarian painted eggs, Venetian glass beads, Pacific totem poles, Shaker boxes...the diversity of the crafts included here is astonishing.

This is the first worldwide survey to cover such an extensive range of crafts. The techniques used in a particular craft, from backstrap weaving and papercutting to metal casting and wood carving, and their history are explained and illustrated, highlighting an incredible and dazzling diversity of styles. Some of the objects included are traditional, while some are modern but made using traditional techniques.

The invention of many crafts has been credited to gods and heroes. According to the ancient Greeks, the goddess Athene was the greatest of weavers, while in the American Southwest the Navajo rub spider webs on the arms of their daughters in the hope they will become good weavers like Spider Woman who taught their ancestors the craft. It is the smith, however, working magical transformations in the forge and crucible, who is best represented among the gods of the world: in Greece he was Hephaestus, in Scandinavia Volund, in Ireland and Wales Goibniu and Govannan, and in Niqeria O qun. The book is organized geographically with six sections on North America, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia and Oceania, subdivided into 90 crafts.

With a wealth of illustrations, a bibliography, information on museums and collections, this survey celebrates skills found all around the world. It is an essential resource for anyone concerned with art, craft and decorative objects.

Prologue: The Sultan Who Became a Weaver

Introduction

1 North America

Introduction

Marine Ivory

Totem Poles

Horns, Quills and Claws

Shaker Boxes

Patchwork Quilts

Rustic Furniture

American Folk Art

Plains Bead Applique

Rawhide and Buckskin

Pueblo Pottery

Navajo Jewelry

Coiled Baskets in the Southwest

Mexican Painted Ceramics

Hojalata: Tincraft

2 Central and South Arnerioa

Introduction

Alfombras: Guatemalan Flower Carpets

Molas: Applique of the San Bias Islands

Modelled Foodstuff

Filiaree

Gourd Carving

Applique Pictures

Knitted Hats

The Backstrap Loom

Vegetable Ivory

Amazonian Pottery

Seeds, Beans and Nuts

Ponchos

Shigras and Mochilas

3 Europe

4 Africa

5 Asia

6 Australasia and Oceania

Bibliography

Museums and Collections

Acknowledgments

Sources of Illustrations

Index