Very large basket with lid. Basket is rectangular, woven with cedar root and decorated with red and black cherry bark imbrication in a double line of large chevrons interspersed with diamond shapes. The lid is attached to the basket by three leather straps at back, with ties for closing at front. A leather handling strap is attached at each end. Three long strips of woven cedar serve as feet for the basket, attached to the base along each of the short sides and in the middle. A rounded lid fits over an inset lip, and is decorated with the same motifs as the body of the basket. Old, well-executed repairs are visible.

Basketry violin case. Case in the general shape of a violin, with a long neck and widening of the upper and lower bouts. Lid is attached with two small decorative metal hinges at back, and closes with a hide tie at front. Case is heavily decorated on the exterior with red and black cherry bark and grass beading, in a checkered pattern. A woven cedar bark handle is attached below the front tie closure, attached on one side by a hide loop and the other by a brown and yellow shoelace.

Gift of Miss Henrietta E. Failing.

Rectangular woven basket in a tight, square weave. Base is a small rectangle, and walls flare out toward the wide mouth. The exterior is decorated by thick vertical stripes of imbrication containing evenly spaced red and light brown horizontal lines. There are three stripes on each of the basket’s long sides, and two on the short.

Rectangular woven basket. Base is a rectangle, and walls flare out toward the wide mouth. The exterior is decorated on the top third with short, thin, horizontal strips of dark imbrication. On three sides, the mid-portion has vertical lines in red and black patterns while on the fourth side are stripes of red and black imbrication at the rim.

Small canoe-shaped basket. Basket is oblong, ends narrow, with a flat base and curved walls topped by an open, scalloped rim. Decoration is a square weave of black imbrication along base and rim, and dark red across the scallop design.

THE KWAKIUTL OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. BOAS, FRANZ MEMOIRS, 8, 1909

Large rectangular basket with lid. Walls of basket angle outward from base to inset rim. Decoration is offset groups of beading across entire surface, three lines to a group, in yellow-brown, brown and black. A small cedar loop is attached to the front centre, with a thin braided cord in proximity for fastening the basket closed. Lid (part b) fits snuggly on top of inset rim and has similar pattern to basket on lip and surface. Part c is a small half-circle handle that has broken off one of the short sides of the basket. Both basket and lid have twisted cotton cord remnants on one long side, indicating that the two were once attached.