TALKING WITH THE CLAY: THE ART OF PUEBLO POTTERY by Stephen TrimbleReview by: Margaret PrescottArt Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 6, No. 4(Winter 1987), p. 183Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27947843 .

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Art Documentation, Winter 1987 183

lication of this Anglo-Catalan book. Chapters on the city of Barcelona, its architecture, painting, literature, and the other arts are written mainly by Catalan scholars and a few English savants. At first one wonders why a chapter on the rediscov

ery of ancient Barcelona was included in the period 1888 1936, but it was during that time that the Roman city of Barcino was excavated.

Gaudi, Mir?, Dal? and Picasso, the giants of the period, are represented, but one can only find their portraits by other artists through the "cross-references" following their entries in the catalogue. The book is generously illustrated in color and black-and-white and includes many photographs and drawings (particulary architectural) that were not in the ex hibition. There is no index and this is a serious drawback to using the book, for the illustrations not included in the exhibi tion are not listed in the catalogue. The chronology, begin ning not in 1888, but in 1875, is generously dotted with humorous and provocative drawings. With the drawbacks mentioned, it must be said that

Homage to Barcelona is a good read. It will be wanted by university libraries and those college, museum, and public libraries with an interest in Spanish art.

Barbara Woolsey California State University, Chico

DECORATIVE ARTS TALKING WITH THE CLAY: THE ART OF PUEBLO POTTERY / Stephen Trimble.?Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, 1987?ISBN 0-933452-15-2 ; 0-933452-18-7 (pa.) ; LC 86-33902 : $27.50, $14.95 (pa.)

The villages of the Pueblo Indians stretch across a 350-mile crescent from western New Mexico into eastern Arizona, and the potters who live and work in them manifest very distinct regional styles in their work. Trimble includes an impressive 60 potters in this catalogue, comprising what he considers a "fair sampling of both well-known and beginning artists, di verse styles and major families." Based primarily on inter views conducted between 1985 and 1986, the text contains many comments by the potters which elucidate their reasons for continuing this ancient tradition and for utilizing certain techniques and designs which they find most suitable. Some candidly admit to the economic advantages of making pots in lieu of any other livelihood, and yet few fail to cite the importance of continuing this integral and vital aspect of their culture or the need to express their individual creativity in an indigenous artform. Despite these and other recurrent themes evident in the potters' remarks, the enormous num

ber of quotations which has been included sometimes re sults in a redundant and disjointed text. What Trimble does accomplish is to distinguish aptly the

techniques and designs of each potter, family, and tribe he visited. His reverence for these artists is clearly evident. In the introductory chapter, he describes the steps in making pot tery from the "picking of the clay" and coiling it instead of throwing it, to scraping it with stones passed down through generations, to firing it in temporary, outdoor kilns and pol ishing it by hand. Often letting the potters speak for them selves, he then distinguishes the pottery of each region: the glittering, micaceous pots of Taos and Picuris in the north, the red and black Tewa pots made famous by Maria Martinez, the Cochiti storyteller figurines and Santo Domingo bird de signs, the rosettes and powerful abstractions of the Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni west of Albuquerque, and, finally, the orange pots of the Arizona Hopi. While numerous and clear, many of the photographs are

too small to do justice to the exquisite details on many of the

pots. Of particular interest are the poignant photographs of potters scraping pots in their kitchens, firing and drying them outside their homes, and proudly displaying them.

Even with its drawbacks, this catalogue is an insightful doc ument of the techniques of contemporary Pueblo potters, covering substantial ground in one volume. As such it will prove valuable to libraries collecting in this area. An exten sive and briefly annotated bibliography corresponding to the chapters augments the text.

Margaret Prescott Baltimore County Public Library

STAINED GLASS BEFORE 1700 IN AMERICAN COLLEC TIONS: NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK (Studies in the History of Art 15)?Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art dist. by Univ. Press of New England, ISBN 0-89468-078-1 ; LC 72-600-309 : $25.00.

STAINED GLASS BEFORE 1700 IN AMERICAN COLLEC TIONS: MID ATLANTIC AND SOUTHEASTERN SEABOARD STATES (Studies in the History of Art, v. 23)?Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, dist. by Univ. Press of New England, 1987?ISBN 0-87541-977-2 ; LC 72-600-309 : $25.00.

Although the art of stained glass is ancient, its subject for a historical study in depth is relatively recent. These volumes are the first two parts of a projected four-part Corpus V/trearum check-list of all the historic stained glass in the United States. In 1952 the Corpus V/trearum Medievii was founded under the auspices of the Comit? International de l'Histoire d l'Art with the plan of researching, documenting and publishing all existing medieval stained glass in the world. The study was soon extended to include the Renais sance. The work of the Americans follows the prescribed format and makes a concrete contribution to stained glass scholarship. The third volume in the series will cover the Midwest and Western United States. The fourth will publish small silver stained roundels and additions to the first three which were discovered too late for inclusion in their proper areas.

The particular challenge of the study of historic stained glass, unique to this art form, consists of uniting parts of a whole series dispersed in the 18th and 19th centuries when it was little regarded. Only a few people were still interested in preserving it. American collectors could then buy parts of the fenestration of medieval churches and ship them home from Europe with no constraints. Sometimes unscrupulous deal ers made two panels out of one by using some of the antique glass in each and duplicating the missing parts with stop gaps of old or new glass. Releaded stained glass is consid ered authentically historic even with a certain percentage of new glass. Some of the stained glass in the study was do nated to museums, a small amount installed in churches and some is still in private collections. These contributors are well known enough in the world of stained glass scholarship to gain entry to collections not usually open to the public. Wherever possible they examined the panels closely on both sides to report on restorations. Acquaintance with all historic stained glass existing in the world, its style of design, tech nique and scale enables scholars to allocate fragments with clouded provenance to their proper origins. Stained glass is increasingly becoming a specialty for student art historians. The arrangement of the panels in the books is by present

location. There is a black-and-white photograph of each, a few also in color. All known information is given: subject, dimensions, date, condition and provenance in stages to its present location. This is the first time some of the panels have been published. The value of these volumes to serious students is much greater than many flashier books on the subject.

Helene H. Weis Willet Stained Glass Studio

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