UNIDENTIFIED ARTIST, NUU-CHAH-NULTH OR MAKAH
unsigned.
LOT 55
ESTIMATE: $800 — $1,200
PRICE REALIZED: $1,920.00
Further images
Sometimes known as ‘pika-uu’ in Nuu-chah-nulth, which means ‘trinket basket,’ these small lidded baskets have been made by skilled weavers for trade since the 1800s. While this type of basket was less a part of daily life than it was an important part of the economy, the technique is still deeply rooted in a practical tradition. Using a tight, coiled twining technique traditionally helped to make the basket waterproof, a needed attribute in the humid rainforests of the region. As a trade-based selling point, the compact weave also helped to make the basket more secure, a safe vessel to hold one’s treasures. The beautifully patterned lid and a quartet of brightly coloured fish still catch the eye today with the freshness they possessed when they were first created.
References: See Allan Lobb, Indian Baskets of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, (Portland, OR: Graphic Arts Centre Publishing Co., 1990), p. For slightly later examples. Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh & William A.Turnbaugh, Indian Baskets, (Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd. in collaboration with the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 1986).
Provenance
A British Columbia Collection.Join Our Mailing List
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