African Designs from Traditional Sources

As someone who grew up in Africa, I find myself drawn to African culture. I have used some of the nearly 400 illustrations in this book for various purposes, from website design artifacts to home decoration. Designs can be used at will. The designs are well categorised. North Africa and East Africa are not as well represented as the other parts of the continent, but you'll still find a good variety an this book's pages. Dates, and an index by region would have been useful.

Published in 1971, this book is a pictorial archive of African design. Taken largely from carved art in wood and stone, most of the designs are presented as black and white linocut prints, and each design includes a brief description of its geographic and tribal origin. A map of Africa is included as well as source references from museums, collections and publications for each of the artifacts that the designs have been extracted from, more than 200 in all. This is an excellent resource for artists as well as school age children and it is an exceptional value. I'm holding out on that last star only because no dates are given for the works cited.