In this corner of a California bungalow the articles of Indian craft are all ornamental and some are useful. The Navajo rug is a luxurious 
floor covering, while the uses to which the baskets have been put show their utility 
American Indian Art in the Home 
FEW REALIZE THE REAL STATUS OF INDIAN ART IN HOME DECORATION—THE 
PRACTICAL AND ESTHETIC VALUE OF INDIAN BASKETRY, POTTERY AND BLANKETS 
by Charles Francis Saunders 
W HILE Americans ransack the Old World for the artistic 
adornment of their homes, there is at their very back 
door, so to speak, practically unknown and neglected, a native 
art of remarkable possibilities for interior decoration. I refer 
to the art-work of the American Indian, especially as developed 
along the lines of pottery making, basketry and blanket weaving. 
So far as the average 
American knows of this 
work at all, he thinks of 
it as something suitable 
mainly for curio collec¬ 
tions or museums, or at 
the most for an odd cor¬ 
ner in a den or studio. 
Nevertheless it possesses 
a very great value in the 
practical furnishing of the 
home, as the illustrations 
accompanying this article 
seek to show. Not only is 
it in good taste in an in¬ 
formal country house, a 
vacation lodge or a West¬ 
ern bungalow, but it adapts 
itself in a remarkable way 
to association with the finest and most dignified types of furni¬ 
ture—the quiet and harmonious coloring which unfailingly dis¬ 
tinguishes the work of the unspoiled Indian artist, being in 
perfect concord with the soft browns of solid mahogany or 
rosewood, with copper, brass and other adornment of the house 
beautiful. Few ornaments are so adaptable. 
Particularly do the sim¬ 
ple shapes and designs of 
this primitive art comport 
with the simplicity of old- 
fashioned furniture. When 
an Indian jar would be out 
of key set upon an elabor¬ 
ately carved Chinese stand, 
it seems to the manner born 
when holding a potted plant 
upon a quaint sewing-table 
beneath a mirror of our 
grandfather’s time. This 
ability to harmonize with 
the best of other days is the 
test of the innate worth of 
the American Indian’s art. 
It is essential to remember, 
however, that it does not do 
There is no jarring note in this juxtaposition of antique mahogany fur¬ 
niture, Navajo rug, and Apache wicker jar (beneath the table) 
(221) 
