Miniature Acorn String Basket, 1890 With Provenance of Original Ownership

This is a miniature Acorn shaped string basket, made in the 1880's to 1890's. It was made by a member of one of three possible Native American tribes: Penobscot, Passamaquoddy and the Maliseet. It is made of wood splints from the Brown Ash tree, and it also has braided Sweet Grass on the top so that it looks like a Acorn cap with all the bumps on it. It measures at 3 and 1/4 inches in diameter at the widest part, and 3 and 1/4 inches in height. Everything about this basket is miniature, right down to the rings that hold the top and bottom closed, and the basket has no damage at all. It would have been used to hold Perl cotton for mending, but I do not think that this was ever used at all and I am elated to have this new addition to my collection.

This find, this Miniature Acorn String Basket, is one of my top 10 best baskets, for sure. For the last 9 years, I have been looking and searching for a Acorn Basket that would be in perfect shape for my private collection. I have another Acorn basket, but it is not a miniature and it is missing one of the rings that hold the lid onto the bottom. And some of the Sweet Grass is fraying, and it is not yet old enough to have the wonderful honey/brown patina that this miniature has.

So, the search continued until about two weeks ago when I got a hit for a beautifully made Native American made Acorn basket....and it was a miniature too! So I bid the biggest amount of money I could on it, and lost to another collector that usually bids on the same items I do. But about a week later I got a message from the seller of that basket, saying that the winning bidder was not responding to their messages nor were they paying for the basket. They offered it to me and after a bit of haggling over the price, I was the proud owner of the Acorn Basket. Yay me!!

To find a nice Acorn Basket that is over 100+ years old is rare, and to find one that is perfect with no damage at all is even more rare. Top that with these two facts: It is a miniature, and it came with the Provenance that tells where it came from and where it has gone over the past 100+ years before coming to me, and it is a home run in the world of Native American Basketry Collecting! :)

I am just so happy right now.....sniff.

Enjoy the pics :)

Oh, and this is my 100th item too! Where in the world am I putting all of these things in my apartment? LOL