Native American Beadwork (Paperback)

by William C. Orchard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A much-admired folk art, beadwork decorates items of personal adornment as well as ceremonial and everyday objects. Native American artists are among the craft's most skilled practitioners, and this study, offers a well-illustrated look at baskets and bowls, necklaces, robes, cradles, and other objects, all richly embellished in beads made from gold and precious stones, shells, bone, and other materials. In addition to over 30 black-and-white photos, numerous line figures depict the techniques used in their creation. Unabridged republication of Beads and Beadwork of the American Indians, originally published by Lancaster Press, Inc., Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1929. Introduction. 31 halftones. 136 figures.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; 2nd edition (December 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486424839
• ISBN-13: 978-0486424835
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,089,696 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Seminal work on beading technique, September 9, 2008

By	New England Yankee (Northern New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Native American Beadwork is a reprint of Orchard's Native American beadwork technique book published in the early 20th century. It was one of the first books examining beadwork techniques in detail and is still one of the best. Orchard was a Native American museum curator, as was his son - this book is written from a base of authoritative knowledge and original investigative work. Many of the techniques were actually reconstructed from either disassembling or thread-tracing artifacts.

I particularly like the coverage of woven beadwork. This is not your typical block or peyote stitch bead book, nor is it a project book. It is a an examination of Native American and trade beads, historical bead production techniques, and beading techniques. Most of the photos and all of the illustrations are in black & white, which is to be expected from a book dating from this period. The first 85 pages of the book cover bead history. Coverage of techniques is on pages 86 to 129 - all of which is descriptive and not instructional per se.

This is not a photographic reprint. Rather, it is a full recreation of the original book. The text was re-entered, the photographs re-scanned, and the color plates were produced with modern techniques. Some of the color plates were re-shot using the original artifacts as the original plates could not be located. As a result, the quality is superb.

This is a must-have book for anyone interested in Native American beading.