HOUSE AND GARDEN 
October, 1910 
acter of its own, recognizable by connoisseurs from that of all 
the others. 
The most useful of the pottery forms for American homes 
is the water jar or olla, though a flat, plaque-like bowl with 
striking designs from one of the Moqui pueblos, makes a de¬ 
lightful wall decoration. Simply as something to be looked at, 
any room is adorned by a jar from Acoma with its delicate, 
conventionalized leaves and flowers, or one from Santo Domingo 
pueblo with its chaste, geometric designs and almost Greek 
grace of shape, or by a specimen of unornamented lustrous black 
ware of Santa Clara or San Juan. From the standpoint of 
utility these jars are serviceable especially as jardinieres and re¬ 
ceptacles for cut flowers. When put to the latter use, it is best 
to place the flower stalks in a glass jar or bottle filled with water 
and set this inside the Indian jar; for while the jars are made 
to hold water, their lack of glazing causes a slight “sweating.” 
Much of the distinctive charm of Indian pottery is due to its 
being fashioned and decorated entirely by hand. No potter's 
wheel is used. Unlike the Navajo blanket, the pottery is yet 
practically free from the debasement of aniline dyes—the color¬ 
ing used in the design being made from certain native mineral 
earths, and is permanent after firing. In buying, the main point 
to guard against, after one is satisfied with form and decoration, 
is the possibility of the design not being fixed because of im¬ 
proper firing. This is easily tested by wetting the finger and 
rubbing it across the design. If the color has been rightly burned 
in. it will not be affected even by scouring with soap and water. 
BASKETS 
Indian baskets, being much more easily carried by travelers 
than either blankets or pottery, are perhaps the best known form 
of all the Indian's art work. They are to be had in almost every 
conceivable form, from the flat plaque of Moqui to the globular 
water bottle of 
the Paiutes and 
Apaches, and can 
be used in count¬ 
less ways. For 
the American 
home, however, 
the more delicate 
weaves are best, 
such as those of 
the California 
tribes in which 
the coloring is 
given by the skil¬ 
ful intermingling 
of different 
grasses and fib¬ 
rous roots. As 
work- baskets, 
scrap - baskets, 
flower-pot hold¬ 
ers and trays, 
there is abund¬ 
ant use for them 
in a household, 
and if care is ex¬ 
ercised in the se¬ 
lection, they need 
never clash with 
the most digni¬ 
fied furnishing. 
Navajo rugs and Pueblo basket in a hall-room ^ ^ le co ^ or_ 
with old-fashioned stand and mirror mg of the best 
223 
These Indian baskets and rug are not only in harmony with the 
other furniture, but they mitigate the staid old-time atmosphere 
baskets is from native dyes or more often consists of the natural 
hues of the material employed, the use of aniline dyes has crept 
into considerable of the latter-day basketry, and is particularly 
in evidence in the remarkable work of the Moqui basket weavers. 
As these colors are glaring when fresh and shabby when faded, 
their use should be discouraged by buyers refusing to take any 
work but that whose designs are in native dyes or the natural 
color of the material. 
THE DECLINE OF INDIAN ART 
The Indian art work of the United States, though still abund¬ 
ant, is unfortunately in imminent danger of extinction, due to 
the educational policy of the Government, which in seeking to 
give the redman a white man’s schooling, is estranging the 
younger generation from the Indian ways of life. Their white 
instructors as a class seem entirely ignorant of the essential 
worth of the aboriginal art, and, far from encouraging it, are 
debasing it by atrocious kindergarten methods, which are for¬ 
eign to the Indian’s natural way of expression. Only the older 
Indians possess the traditional secrets of their art and are quali¬ 
fied to transmit them to the younger. Fortunately, it is not too 
late to encourage this, if the will to save this American art exists 
in the American people; but it must be done before the old 
women who make the best blankets, the best pottery and the best 
baskets, die off. These beautiful and serviceable arts of the first 
Americans are certainly a national asset worth conserving and 
developing intelligently. 
