Posted 8 years ago
random23
(1 item)
does anyone have any idea which group made this? I am in the Pacific Northwest and this is from an antique store locally. Beyond that I have nothing.
very tight weave. Lightning image is only on the outside. Center of bottom pokes in like a wine bottle.
It might be Haida Gwai and possibly had a lid when made. I've been told the darker strips/designs are usually cherry wood.
It is a northwestern California twined basket, made from hazel, with decoration an overlay of beargrass (the light tan color), maidenhair fern (black), and woodwardia (reddish).
It uses a half-twist overlay twining technique, which results in the design showing on the outside, but not the inside, of the basket. It's the stitch used by northwestern tribes like Hupa, Yurok, and Karuk.
Unless the maker's name is known, it's usually difficult to determine the tribal affiliation, so they are usually referred to as "Hupa" or "Hupa Group" (which includes Hupa, Yurok, Karuk, Tolowa, and Wiyot.)
Thank you both, I appreciate your knowledge.
Please mark your mystery as solved, random23. Thank you, CanyonRoad, for your help and for sharing your extensive knowledge with all of us here.
Here is a link to a Karuk Basket Weaver, Karen. She is related to me through Emma Pearch, who is our gggrandmother, and was full blooded Karuk Keeper of the Dance, and Basket Weaver. Her Basket Collection is at the Clarke Museum in Eureka, Calif. Baskets that she made and, ones that her, and her husband John Pearch, collected in the mid-late 1800's. Karen is keeping the traditional craft alive.
http://karukbasketmaterials.blogspot.com/
Some of Karen's Baskets may help in identifying your Basket.