Basket Item Number: A6777 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Tapering swamp grass basket (part a) with a lid (part b). Base has a red-brown checkerwork centre with wicker weave and plain twined weave on edges. Sides are wrapped twined weave. The main design of the basket (part a) consists of three sets of bands with the central cover band in blue and purple with yellow in a zig zag pattern, a top band of pink-red outlined with blue-green, and a bottom band of pink-red outlined with purple. The lid (part b) has a three part rotational design in pink-red and purple.

Narrative

The donor said the objects in his donation should be known as the Hillyard Mitchell collection. Mitchell (1852-1923) spent much of his working life in the Northwest Territories, later moving to Victoria, B.C. The donor also said the collection came from his grandfather, F. Carson, who had gone to Saskatchewan in 1861 as a boy of 15, and stayed until 1918. He was a fur trader and trapper, working mainly amongst the Cree, and was recorded having been at Duck Lake and Prince Albert, Sask. It is now uncertain which objects were collected by Mitchell vs collected by F. Carson.

Iconographic Meaning

Called "fern design" by Emmons, in Tlingit Basketry.

Item History

What

Name
Basket
Identification Number
A6777 a-b
Type of Item
basket
Material
cedar bark, swamp grass and dye
Overall
height 11.5 cm, diameter 12.0 cm
Part A
height 11.0 cm, diameter 12.0 cm
Part B
height 2.0 cm, diameter 7.0 cm

Who

Culture
Nuu-chah-nulth
Previous Owner
F. Carson, Hillyard Mitchell and F. S. Carson
Received from
F. S. Carson (Donor)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

When

Creation Date
before 1920
Collection Date
between 1861 and 1918
Ownership Date
before 1923 and before October 28, 1957
Acquisition Date
on October 28, 1957

Other

Item Classes
basketry
Condition
good
Accession Number
2081/0010 a-b