1930's Passamaquoddy Urchin Basket, Mint Condition

This is a Beautiful Passamaquoddy Urchin Basket made in the 1930s. This was purchased directly from a private collection, the mother's son listed this and a few others for sale.

This is beautiful and in mint condition, it was kept out of direct sunlight so the colors are still vibrant. Measures 6.25 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches in height. It has colored Black Ash splints and Sweet Grass at the rim. The colors used are Orange and Brown. My favorite shape of all the Wabanaki Tribes' basket shapes, I now have ten mint condition Urchins. They are hard to find these days still intact with no damage. You can get them new, of course, from other artists who make Urchins, but I like the old ones. I did buy a small Urchin Basket from Passamaquoddy Master basket maker Jeremy Frey in 2013 and I'm glad I did then because I couldn't afford one from him now at all LOL!

The Wabanaki's tradition of weaving baskets using splints from the Black Ash Tree may be coming to an end in about 10 years. Black Ash trees have been decimated by the invasive Asian Emerald Borer Beetle, they have tried to come up with a way to combat them here in the United States but nothing has really been successful. Basket weavers are trying to stockpile as many of the trees as they can now.