Posted 8 years ago
Blue_colla…
(1 item)
Hello,
This rather large basket was found in a house clean out in Iowa. It stands nearly 19" tall and the opening at the top is 6". It has leather bindings around the neck. It has Painted designs and symbols that encircle the piece. Turtles, deer, and crow? The owner of the property had deemed it as "trash". It looks 100 years old. I would love to find out more about this piece.
I'm hoping the individual known as "Canyon Road" is still active and could offer some insight. Any help is appreciated.
The only thing I can tell you, for sure, is that it isn't Native American. There is no tribe that makes baskets with this particular combination of material, weaving technique, form, and painted designs.
The basket itself looks Asian, but you need to show a photo of the bottom, in order to see the construction start. Chinese baskets like this typically have a spoke-like start, Indonesian baskets have a circular hole in the center of the start, etc.
My guess is that someone took an old basket, and attempted to gussy it up by painting symbols associated with Indian designs and adding some leather braid, possibly during the "Indian" decorator craze of the 1960s/1970s. It doesn't look original to the basket. But it could be Chinese, they did make some baskets with painted designs for the export market.
Canyon, thanks for the reply. It was fun for a moment to think I may have found something special. It turns out in this instance that one man's trash is also another man's trash. It is now my mission to find something worthy of posting. Thanks again!
i think it's earlier than that - probably 1920s. that particular form was popular then. i have no idea about the painted decoration, but it's kind of cool. i like this unusual basket!