Posted 13 years ago
Tlynnie1942
(134 items)
This is another of my Urchin Baskets, made by the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes. I got it about a year ago and would love to find a lid that would fit and has the same colors...
The colors are still vibrant on this basket, it is about 5 inches in diameter and almost 2 inches in height. Maybe made in around 1910. Each one of my Urchin baskets are made a little different than the other, the early ones were made more like this one in that they did not have alot of height. I have another that was made later (1930's) that was made with more height in it. But this one is beautiful and it is getting hard to find baskets like this out there.. This shape is one of my favorites, but then I love all Native basketry. They were very hard shape to weave, and they did not use a basket mold to weave around to get the shape. They would have to bend the larger splints more than the other baskets they made, and had to keep everything uniform for the shape while they wove the smaller splints in. The splints broke more during the making of the Urchin baskets because of the severe bending. Because of this, the artist could charge more for Urchin Baskets. Even after they are done, the splints can still break and it is hard to find one now that does not have damage.