diff --git a/python/arrow/__init__.py b/python/arrow/__init__.py
index 61066ba369d39..41bc8971d39c7 100644
--- a/python/arrow/__init__.py
+++ b/python/arrow/__init__.py
@@ -21,5 +21,5 @@
 from arrow.schema import (bool_, int8, int16, int32, int64,
                           uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64,
                           float_, double, string,
-                          list_, struct,
+                          list_, struct, field,
                           DataType, Field, Schema)
diff --git a/python/arrow/schema.pyx b/python/arrow/schema.pyx
index 04e233a9e7bee..ffb159ab3d4d5 100644
--- a/python/arrow/schema.pyx
+++ b/python/arrow/schema.pyx
@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@ cdef class Field:
         self.field = self.sp_field.get()
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return 'Field({0}, type={1})'.format(self.name,
-                                             self.type._type_repr())
+        return 'Field({0!r}, type={1})'.format(self.name, str(self.type))
 
     property name:
 
@@ -72,6 +71,9 @@ cdef DataType primitive_type(LogicalType type, bint nullable=True):
 #------------------------------------------------------------
 # Type factory functions
 
+def field(name, type):
+    return Field(name, type)
+
 def bool_(c_bool nullable=True):
     return primitive_type(LogicalType_BOOL, nullable)
 
diff --git a/python/arrow/tests/test_schema.py b/python/arrow/tests/test_schema.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a89edd74a0adf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/arrow/tests/test_schema.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+
+from arrow.compat import unittest
+import arrow
+
+
+class TestTypes(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_integers(self):
+        dtypes = ['int8', 'int16', 'int32', 'int64',
+                  'uint8', 'uint16', 'uint32', 'uint64']
+
+        for name in dtypes:
+            factory = getattr(arrow, name)
+            t = factory()
+            t_required = factory(False)
+
+            assert str(t) == name
+            assert str(t_required) == '{0} not null'.format(name)
+
+    def test_list(self):
+        value_type = arrow.int32()
+        list_type = arrow.list_(value_type)
+        assert str(list_type) == 'list<int32>'
+
+    def test_string(self):
+        t = arrow.string()
+        assert str(t) == 'string'
+
+    def test_field(self):
+        t = arrow.string()
+        f = arrow.field('foo', t)
+
+        assert f.name == 'foo'
+        assert f.type is t
+        assert repr(f) == "Field('foo', type=string)"