Basket

Item number K4.334 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

A shallow coiled circular basket with straight sides. The bottom main design consists of a four petal flower design outlined in dark brown. Between each "petal" is a line made of orange and dark brown. Near the centre, there is a coil that matches the rim. The sides have a design that consists of a natural colour with an occasional dark brown vertical stripe on the coiled layer. The rim has a pattern of natural coloured checkered diamond shapes along a dark brown background.

History Of Use

Flat tray-like baskets (ongalo) are used for winnowing maize, as well as serving food. Grass weaving is done by both men and women, but baskets are traditionally woven by most women.

Specific Techniques

The dyes used in this basket are dark brown and amber-yellow. Yellow dye is made from roots of wild rhubarb (ocilunguluila). The roots are pounded and placed in cold water with the grasses used to create the coils. Afterwards, the mixture is placed in a fire to boil for half an hour, turning the grasses amber-yellow. To create brown dye, yellow and red dye are mixed together; shade of brown determined by ratio of red and yellow dyes. Red dye is made by cooking leaves from an evava plant and boiling them in water with bark of the ukondo tree. After they are sufficiently simmered, they are mixed with ash and buried.