Bag

Date1100-1300

DimensionsOverall: 4 1/2 × 4 5/8 in. (11.4 × 11.7 cm)

Object numberT0643

Credit LineGift of Eugene Victor Thaw Art Foundation

Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC

Label TextBasket weaving is not always associated with Puebloan people who were exceptional basket makers. This particular basket is important because it exemplifies various characteristics of a special time and place. It probably was made near the Four Corners area. At this time the Pueblo people coiled their baskets from left to right with foundations of three smooth rods of willow or sumac, and sewed the bundles with fine splints of the same materials. The black designs of the Basketmaker period were largely displaced by fairly complex patterns in black, red, and ochre, which often alternate with each other. They are geometric, generally with diagonal lines of steps or zigzags with dentate edges. Some are finished with classic herringbone edges, while others are finished with plain stichting. The cylindrical shape is a distinctive style from the Pueblo III period and is so closely associated with Chaco Canyon trhat Neil Judd, an archaeologist who worked there, believed they all came from Pueblo Bonito. Most of these unique baskets are small and seem to have been used for personal purposes. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
ProvenancePrivate collection, western New Mexico; Jerold Collings, Phoenix, Arizona; Toby Herbst, Galisteo, New Mexico
BibliographyCheek, Lawrence W. Ancient Peoples of the Southwest: A.D. 1250. Phoenix: Arizona Department of Transportation, 1994: 39.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.190.

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. 210.

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