Treasury of American Design and Antiques

A pictorial survey of popular folk arts based upon watercolor renderings in the Index of American Design, at the Nat. Gallery of Art in Wash., DC. The Index, a record of American craft traditions from early Colonial times to the close of the 19th century, was executed during the 1930s by hundreds of artists from 35 states under the Works Progress Admin. It was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in the arts. Each artist searched a specific area for the finest or most representative examples of American design and then rendered them in watercolor or tempera. Almost 3,000 illustrations, including 800 in full color, have been selected from the Index to create this magnificent volume.