The Art and the Romance of Indian Basketry Clark Field Collection, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, 1964

The brochure opens with a tribute to Clark Field, whose four decades of collecting built a major Indian basket collection now displayed at the Philbrook Art Center. These woven objects reveal everyday and ceremonial aspects of many tribes. Listeners are invited to see how simple containers become treasured works of art.

The guide outlines how basketry moved from animal skins and twigs to vegetable‑fiber techniques such as coil, twine, twill, wicker and imbricated weaves. Each tribe chose local plants—red honeysuckle for Cherokee baskets, devil’s claw in Arizona, buckbrush in Oklahoma—to suit their style. Women weavers invent patterns on the spot, blending function with personal expression.

About ninety baskets are illustrated, including the celebrated Dotsolalee piece on the cover. Field’s meticulous records give scholars vital data as these fragile objects become rarer. Listening reveals how each basket reflects the landscape, language and life of its makers.