Featured Nootka Makah Basket Help

Hi all, I picked up these 2 small baskets today, trying to figure out the age of them. The largest is 4" x 2 1/2"H, the other is 3 1/2" x 2"H. I'm thinking Makah baskets, but could be Nootka/Nuu-chah-nulth. Colours have faded on them but they are still in nice condition
any information appreciated
thanks for looking

 

@komokwa @Tapou

 

G'day m'Lady !!

Ahhh...a couple of Nuu Chah Nulth cedar and grass trinket baskets.

the bigger one , with a Hell Diver on it and smaller one with 2 blokes in a canoe .

the smaller one is a little finer..... I'd say circa 1905 and the other more like circa 1920.....

imo

 

CXgrl -You're on a run ! Komo's the man! If I could find that stuff every week we could afford to live up there.Vancouver Isle & the Gulf Islands are beautiful (& full of material treasure too).

 

thanks komokwa I thought the cedar square on the base meant it was Makah?

 

I'm grieved to display my ignorance...but I thought a Hell Diver was a WWII Naval aircraft. Not that I can see one...nor the 2 blokes inna canoe.
Living where I do I should be far more attuned to Makah basketry...but, alas, I'm not. Help me here, please?

 

thanks bosko69 Yes, I'm fortunate to come across these type of baskets at a very low price.

I don't know what a Hell Diver is either - some kind of bird?

here are a couple of better photos of the blokes in the canoe


here are some links to more information on the Makah/Nookta baskets. The Burke museum used to have more information on-line but they are down for some reason. The one below is still up and running

https://www.burkemuseum.org/static/baskets/artists/trinket.html

this thread is from 2015
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/3-native-baskets-help.2755/#navigation

this thread is from 2016
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/mini-native-baskets-makah-or-nootka.9666/

 

CX-Are the locals up there actually still ignorant about Native art ?

 

not yer most eloquent question pal......

 

I was taught that the sitting birds were ducks.... but the ones with the large spread wings .... that are clearly not EAGLES or THUNDERBIRDS ......were known as ...

https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1999/Helldiver

 

cedar bark....many squares ..


one square..

.


From the SFO museum..

For centuries along the Northwest Coast, the Nuu-chah-nulth and Makah used both twining and plaiting techniques to make baskets, nets, and other accessories. Basketry was used in shellfish and root gathering trips as well as whaling activities. Aside from early whaling hats, however, few examples of decorative basketry have survived prior to the advent of the souvenir basket.

In the late 1900s, both the Nuu-chah-nulth and Makah began to produce a variety of twined, lidded baskets for the tourist trade from cedar bark and beargrass. Tourists used these baskets to hold coins, jewelry, or other trinkets. Weavers wove both traditional and contemporary designs into baskets. Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth baskets reflected their whaling culture. Weavers incorporated whaling scenes onto lively souvenir items including mats, bags, basketry-covered abalone shells, and bottles. To more readily appeal to tourists, weavers also wove baskets with American and Canadian motifs such as the United States flag.

Introduced to the region in the nineteenth century, beargrass, or tlii-sikum in Nuu-chah-nulth, literally translates to the “white grass of Washington.” The Nuu-chah-nulth preferred to use this grass to weave baskets because of the hard, bright, shiny surface of the material. Beargrass came from Washington and was traded to Vancouver Island. Migrant workers employed in orchards and hop fields in Washington also brought back the material to sell.



Makah basket bases flair out north west east and south from the painted cedar weave.
Nootka baskets....do not use flat cedar bark as a base.....and spiral out from the centre in a swirl ..... as a rule of thumb.

It has come to my attention that the prevailing wisdom is to call all these baskets ...
Makah / Nuu Chah Nulth baskets....and forgo any deep dive into their differences or original tribal origin.


I stand alone in a sea of Meh.......

 

It depends - a carving with lots of colours and people are all over it, but items like this and not so much. With the fading of colours the baskets drop even lower on the radar of pickers/buyers which is good for me Kind of sad, I think they are wonderful pieces, and yes, the colour fading is the pits, but the workmanship of the basket is lovely, they feel good to touch Plus they can hold all kinds of little treasures

thanks komokwa

@Taupou said the same in 2015


One thing Gogol does talk about is the close association between the tribes. He mentions, for example, that although bear grass doesn't grow on Vancouver Island, "even today some Nootka and Nitinat weavers buy or trade for bear grass or dyes at Neah Bay, and one can see Nootka baskets being sold by Makah weavers there."

Which pretty much means, unless you actually know the name and tribal affiliation of the weaver of a particular basket, it may not be possible to label it one or the other. Which is why they are often referred to simply as "Nootka/Makah."

I'll list them as Nootka/Makah

 

Helluva perspective, komo...thanks!

 

Living where I do I should be far more attuned to Makah basketry.

Possibly, but not necessarily !!

An old pal of mine , born and bred in Vancouver , never owned a piece of native art, but was around it all his life.
It never interested him.

Add that to the market for these baskets today is stranger than ever....
I've seen nice ones go for 4 figures.....and similar ones go for $ 300....
good ones get passed up , and average ones get bought...
& less and less of the larger older ones on the market..