This pair of exceptional spruce root rattle top baskets were made by prolific Haida artist Isabel Rorick. Regarded as one of the greatest Haida weavers of her generation, Isabel descends from a long line of notable Haida artists. Isabel’s mother, Primrose Adams, her grandmother, Florence Davidson, and her great-grandmother, Isabella Edenshaw (wife of renowned carver Charles Edenshaw) are all well-known Haida basketry weavers. On her father’s side, Isabel inherited basketry weaving from her aunt, Delores Churchill, and her grandmother, Selina Peratrovich.

Rorick’s basketry is highly sought after and has been widely exhibited at galleries and museums across North America. Her weavings can be found in collections at the UBC Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, the Burke Museum in Seattle, and the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau. Rorick’s work was recognized in 2009 with a British Columbia Creative Achievement Award for Aboriginal Art.

These baskets are constructed of spruce root in a twining method. The designs are replicated in both baskets and are applied with grass in a false embroidery. Each basket has two bands of the “tail of the raven” design. The larger basket has double rows of false embroidery making up the design, while the miniature with a single row. The lids of each basket are tiered and contain small stones or similar material that rattles when shaken. The base of each basket has Rorick’s signature of three concentric circles of skip stitch pattern.

–Sarah Raven