Basket Item Number: Na1681 a-b from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Description
Coiled basket and lid with watch-spring base and lid construction. Button handle and flange on lid. Decoration is sewn on and consists of pieces of wool sewn on in tufts. Near the base is one horizontal row of red thread bordered by purple thread.
History Of Use
Molly Lee notes: "The evidence suggests that Yup'ik women made coiled baskets for sale..." and that "...this style of basket was only made in the Nushagak area. "[T]he coiled basket was not indigenous to this area, where a loosely twined grass carrying and storage basket known as the issran was the norm (2002:49). Lee also states that: "Nushagak basketry is distinguished from other Yup'ik baskets of the same period by its size and fineness... For instance, [a] Nushagak example has six revolutions of coiling to the vertical inch, whereas the Kuskokwin Bay Yup'ik basket from about the same time period has three revolutions of coil to the vertical inch. Most Yup'ik baskets of that era are lidded and six to ten inches tall. But the Nushagak variety is usually taller (some ten or more inches tall, wider and tends to be unlidded... embellished with rows of geometric designs in contrasting colours - most often red and dark blue wool or embroidery floss (2002:52)." [Lee, Molly: Nushagak Baskets: A Case Study in Arctic Fusion, American Indian Art Magazine. Scottsdale, Arizona: American Indian Art Inc., 2002.]
Cultural Context
tourist art; basketry
Item History
- Made in Nushagak, Alaska, USA before 1911
- Collected during 1900
- Owned by Margaret L. Buttimer
- Owned by Alfred J. Buttimer before 1932
- Received from Alfred J. Buttimer (Donor) during 1932
What
- Name
- Basket
- Identification Number
- Na1681 a-b
- Type of Item
- basket
- Material
- wool fibre, fibre and rye grass
- Manufacturing Technique
- coiled and false embroidered
- Overall
- height 10.75 in, diameter 10.75 in
Who
- Culture
- Yup'ik
- Previous Owner
- Margaret L. Buttimer and Alfred J. Buttimer
- Received from
- Alfred J. Buttimer (Donor)
Where
- Holding Institution
- MOA: University of British Columbia
- Made in
- Nushagak, Alaska, USA
When
- Creation Date
- before 1911
- Collection Date
- during 1900
- Ownership Date
- before 1932
- Acquisition Date
- during 1932
Other
- Item Classes
- basketry
- Condition
- fair
- Current Location
- Case 48
- Accession Number
- 2003/0016 a-b