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Gambling Tray
Gambling Tray

Gambling Tray

Date1890-1900
DimensionsOverall: 3 1/4 × 30 in. (8.3 × 76.2 cm)
Object numberT0138
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextLarge, basketry trays were used in the eastern Oregon-California border area for gambling games. Some of them, as with this example, extend the media to a flexible extreme. The games were played with two pairs of decorated sticks that were moved back and forth under the basket while the opponents tried to guess their positions. The trays were twined with fibers of tule on warps of several twisted strands of the same material. The golden-tan color is the undyed tule. In the design, the wefts were dyed black in mud springs, or overlayed with bright yellow porcupine quills dyed with wolf moss (Evernia vulpina). This particular design was common, but its significance is unknown. (c.f. Gogol 1983, cover) These trays tread a fine line between matting and basketry. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.

"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Mitchell Gallery, St John's College, Annapolis, MD, February 28, 2020 - April 26, 2020.
Provenance John J. Kania, 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.252-253, 259.

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. 276.
On View
On view
Cap
Hupa or Karuk
c. 1900
Gambling Tray
Mrs. Dick Francisco (Las-Yeh)
c. 1900
Bowl and Game Pieces
Anishinaabe (Ojibwa)
c. 1880
Pouch Panel
Wendat (Huron)
c. 1777
Box
Wendat (Huron)
1847-1854
Basket
Chumash
c. 1800
Digging Stick Handle
Western Plateau region
Probably 18th century
Basket
Elizabeth Conrad Hickox
c. 1920
Tray
Salena Jackson
c. 1900
Food Tray
Haida or Tsimshian
c. 1800-1850
Pouch
Lenape (Delaware)
1795-1820
Knife Sheath
Wendat (Huron)
c. 1830

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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