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Basket

Datec. 1900
DimensionsOverall: 15 1/2 × 24 3/4 in. (39.4 × 62.9 cm)
Object numberT0141
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextLike other California tribes, the Maidu made great use of acorns, and this basket was probably used to serve acorn soup at feasts as it is well worn on the interior and retains remains of food within the stitching. It is coiled, to the left, on a foundation of three willow rods and sewn with splints of willow root and deep red redbud. This basket shape was common among the Maidu, and the bold design, called Feathers, is typical. (c.f. Bates and Bibby 1984, p.39; Conn 1979, pl.388; Wilson and Towne 1978, p.395, fig.10). The stitching is smooth and even, and is deliberately split on the interior surface. The Maidu also made excellent twined baskets, usually for utilitarian purposes. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
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.265.

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. 286.
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5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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