HOPI POTTERY SYMBOLS. by Patterson, Alex. (Alexander M. Stephen.) - 1994

Boulder, Colorado: Johnson, 1994. 272 pp, 8vo (9" H). Profusely illustrated with b&w drawings, color plates. "Alexander M. Stephen, a self-taught anthropologist and an associate of Indian trader Thomas Keam, lived among the Hopi during the late nineteenth century. Having excellent rapport with the tribal elders, Stephen asked them the meaning of symbols on the pots he was collecting for Keam and recorded these interpretations in a catalogue entitled 'Pottery of Tusayan: Catalogue of the Keam Collection'. This manuscript is printed here in its entirety for the first time and is illustrated from the Keam collection, which is now housed at the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Alex Patterson then incorporates Stephen's interpretations and cultural stories into a unique alphabetically arranged guide to the eighty-four symbols on the collected pots." Interior - clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exterior - small bump/crease with tiny tear at fore-edge of rear cover - archivally taped. . Soft Cover. Very Good.