Basket

Item number K4.353 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

A small deep coiled circular basket with rounded sides. Tapered downward at the bottom. Design consists of red diamond shapes outlined with dark brown on a beige background.

History Of Use

Grass weaving is done by both men and women, but baskets are traditionally woven by most women. Geometric shapes are common within Ovimbundu basketry; rare to see the repetition of a single geometric pattern.

Specific Techniques

Dyes used in this basket are red and brown. 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. To create brown dye, yellow and red dye are mixed together; the shade of brown is determined by the ratio of both dyes. 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.