FOLK ART OF INDIA - Metal, Ceramics, Jewelry, Textiles and Wood - Syracuse University Exhibition Catalog

Oct 13, 2026

Catalog and notes for an exhibition centered on Ruth Reeves Memorial Collections at Syracuse University, focusing on folk arts of India and related objects loaned by private collectors. Includes editorial introduction by Alexandra K. Schmeckebier and guidance on dimensions and documentation. The introduction traces Reeves’s artistic life, training, WPA Index of American Design work, and later Fulbright research in India, describing her field travel, study of metal casting, and systematic collecting and photographing of crafts across regions. Also addresses ownership and permission for reuse.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages100

Reading Time2 h 34 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Preface

Catalog

Nineteenth Century Metals

Contemporary Ceramics

Wall Plaques from Molela Village

Jewelry

Textiles and Other Arts

Sculpture

THE SCHOoL OF ARA675YR△CUSEUINIVERSITYF6Lr A成T OF INDI R431967 -以 Pra~ f Indi& WTHDRAWN Folk FOL K( A RT S 0 F I N D I A SPeshalarMASHISrinaqarJammuW.PAKISTANLahore! 1 PUNJABA1mora,DelhiJaipur RAJASTHANAgraLucknowNEPALKarachiJodhpur.STNDGorakhpurMolela Muzzafarpuř KutchSabarkanthaBenaresBHUTANDarbhanga喜LARAMADHYA PRADESHASSAMbadDac IAB BENGA1SambalpuralcBombayPoonaAHARASHTRAPuri ●Ranchi ARABAN SEA HyderabadMYSORE BAY OF BENGALBangaforeSalenMadrasKancheepuramTanjofeMaduraeivandru F OL K ART SO F I NDI A METAL, CERAMICS, JEWELRYTEXTILES AND WOOD An exhibition of the RUTH REEVES MEMORIAL COLLECTIONSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY and related work loanedby private collectors Catalog and Notes byRUTH REEVES Edited with an introduction byALEXANDRA K.SCHMECKEBIER All objects are from the Syracuse University Collectionsexcept where otherwise noted. Dimensions given are in inches: h.-height w.-width 1.-length d.-diameter THE PACKARB LP Y MAR 21967 0FJHE COLBUS GALLE2Y 0 F ARTSA IME COLUMBUS COLEGE CF ART AK ESIGK No parts of this catalog may be used withoutpermission of the publisher. T A BL E○ F CO N T E N T S INTRODUCTION7 11 PREFACE CATALOG # NINETEENTH CENTURY METALSCONTEMPORARY CERAMICS 1331 WALL PLAQUES FROM MOLELA VILLAGE55JEWELRY69TEXTILES AND OTHER ARTS75SCULPTURE85 2 MAP 7 # INTRODUCTION Among America's leading contemporary artists Ruth Reeves was known as muchfor her inspiring devotion to the work and welfare of other artists as for her owncreative achievement.Her respect for sincere creative effort,her understandingand deep devotion to the human motivation of art wherever she found it,and herhonest craftsman's standards in judging artistic quality no matter how modest,were features which endeared her to countless friends and colleagues.Born inthe tradition of the American pioneer,she was a profound and inspired student ofher own country as well as the many peoples of Mexico and South America,andfinally found her closest spiritual affinity with the great complex of India. As the granddaughter of the first Congregational minister to be sent out to thewest coast of the United States,the spirit of the pioneers and the missionarieswas in her blood.Her first personal venture at seventeen was the decision toleave California and her family,and embark on the study of the "fine arts."Shebegan at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and from there went on to the San FranciscoSchool of Art,the Art Students!League in New York,and finally to the AcademieModerne in Paris where she worked under Ferdinand Leger.For many yearsher paintings were exhibited nationally,but the necessities of raising threedaughters brought her into the professional field of textile design,in which shewon many awards.She taught at Columbia University's School of Painting andSculpture and at the Cooper Union School of Art. It was during the depression period of the 1930's that she became one of thefounders of the Index of American Design,a W.P.A.Federal Art program whichwas dedicated both to the conservation of the traditional American folk arts andtheir development as a national resource for the education of future artists.Holger Cahill called her "the missionary of the Index Idea,"as she became atireless and inspiring worker,traveling from coast to coast,collecting historicalmaterial and coordinating the work of many artists.The effort involved greatcritical insight and scholarly discipline,but its objective was essentiallycreative and human.Soon thereafter,as a Guggenheim Fellow,she made exten-sive trips through South America and Mexico studying the "ethnic arts"of theindigenous peoples. Her interest in India goes back to her early student days when,on a field trip tothe Boston Museum of Fine Arts to study metal casting methods,she met Dr.Ananda K.Coomaraswamy,Curator of the Indian Collection.However,it wasnot until 1956 that,as a Fulbright Scholar,she was able to fulfill

FAQs

Who edited and provided the introduction for the catalog?

The catalog is edited with an introduction by Alexandra K. Schmeckebier.

What areas of Indian folk art does the exhibition catalog cover?

It covers nineteenth-century metals, contemporary ceramics, jewelry, textiles and other arts, and sculpture, along with related materials.

How did Ruth Reeves conduct her research in India?

After receiving a Fulbright Scholar grant in 1956, she traveled extensively, studying metal casting methods and recording crafts through field visits, photography, and documentation across regions.

Oct 13, 2026

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