Native American Passamaquoddy Sea Urchin Basket, 1900-1920

I just got this a few days ago, it is an Urchin Basket made by a member of the Passamaquoddy tribe. It is 7 inches in diameter and two and a half inches in height, not including the pull ring on the lid. I got a Urchin just like this 3 years ago, it is woven the same way with the same design and is about 20 years older than this one but that one is much fatter. Even within the same family name of weavers, the shape or design of the baskets can/do have small differences in them and the difference is the Sweetgrass is not braided on this one and it is thinner. That older one is missing the pull ring on the lid and I am going to get that restored for me by another Passamaquoddy weaver soon. I have never done that before, but the basket is still in too good of a shape and I have asked Jeremy Frey to do the restoration. He has agreed to do it and when it is done I will put pics up :)

This basket is completely intact with no damage, something that is getting rarer all the time. It came from an estate sale of a woman named Margaret Lee who lived her whole life in Portland, Maine and passed recently. She collected all kinds of antiques during her lifetime that included many Native American baskets, but this was the only Urchin basket she had.

I love to be able to find these old, undamaged baskets, with provenance or without. I feel happy knowing that they will not be making the rounds being bought and resold over and over again, that is one of the ways they can get damaged. My mother's eyes lit up when I brought it to her to look, and she said, "Gimmee Gimmee Gimmee" something that ALWAYS brings a smile to my face because she does it in this little girl's voice and with her arms outstretched and hands opening and closing. She took it, took the lid off and stuck her face in to smell it. AND, my son surprised me with a visit over the Labor Day weekend! I get a knock on my door and when I look out of the peephole all I see is someone's chest. I opened the door and was so surprised to see him I said, "What the hell?" HA HA HA!
And the first thing he did after giving me a huge hug and kiss? Go to my curio cabinets to see the new arrivals since he was home last. He loves these baskets as much as I and his MeeMaw do...

Enjoy the pics :)