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This bowl-shaped basket was likely used to heat water to prepare traditional acorn soup. The controlled shape and tight and consistent weaving are aesthetically pleasing. Sarah Knight Lama and her daughter, Mary Benson, two of the most talented weavers in central California, are believed to have made this basket. Many of their baskets were highly accomplished and sold directly to art dealers.
ProvenanceClaire Zeisler, Chicago, Illinois; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.290.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 290.
Artist
Mary Benson
(c. 1878 - 1930 or Sarah Knight Lama (c. 1845 - 1913), Pomo)
Bowl
Datec. 1900
DimensionsOverall: 10 × 11 1/4 in. (25.4 × 28.6 cm)
Object numberT0493
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextBaskets were designed and created for specific tasks such as food gathering, transporting, processing, cooking, storage and presentation and was integral part of daily life for Native Americans of California.This bowl-shaped basket was likely used to heat water to prepare traditional acorn soup. The controlled shape and tight and consistent weaving are aesthetically pleasing. Sarah Knight Lama and her daughter, Mary Benson, two of the most talented weavers in central California, are believed to have made this basket. Many of their baskets were highly accomplished and sold directly to art dealers.
ProvenanceClaire Zeisler, Chicago, Illinois; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.290.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 290.
On View
On view
