Featured Mystery basket

Mystery for me at least - I'm afraid I still can't make much sense of basketry. This one is a very fine weave. Seems to have decent age. No flat bottom which I don't get. Help!!!

 

C,mon Juff...size makes all the difference !!!

BUT.....cuz yer a nice guy...!!

It's a Tlingit basketry dish.....
Made of Spruce root & dyed grass overlay.
late 1800's....

even with the damage...it's still in demand and worth money......

 

Yes, Tlingit - less common than similar Makah or Nuu-Cha-Nulth (Nootka) items, so certainly has some value. I'm wondering if it might be the lid to a basket, with the edge having been flattened. It seems to have more "flare" than one would expect from a lid to a basket, but maybe that is just from the angle shown in the photos. It certainly could have deformed over time.
One thing that makes me suspect basket-lid is the faded colors on the convex side, with bright colors on the concave. That is what one would expect if it has been a basket-lid; but if it had been used or displayed with the concave side up, the fading would be on the other side.
Like this:

 

Very cool, thank you! I feel like a broken record so don't always say (though I should), that the grid I take pics on is 1" square, so this is about eight inches across.

The colored decoration (except for the center) is stitched on top of the base material, which is why the colors are only in the interior (concave side). Would that make sense for a basket lid? I included two more pairs of closeups, of the interior and exterior at the same location from the center.

 

yes..i know it's an inch....but i actually read what you write so the size is nicer if it's in print.............

dyed grass overlay............like i said......is always on the outside of any Tlingit basket work...so it's a tray....
& lids ..being lids....don't include that open work weave..
it's seen on flat work...and bottles..

 

I'll defer to Komo, because it is true the design (false embroidery, technically) would be only on the outside.
….though maybe it could have been turned inside out....and it is odd it can't be made to sit flat....
But OK, it is a wobbly dish/tray. The one below doesn't seem to sit very flat either.

 

that's why the cord...it ended up a wall hanger......
while moist..it can be very supple...if you tried to turn that rim inside out...it would not hold up...

& yes, false embroidery ...but I didn't want to go there....

 

here's one.......... https://www.russianamericancompany.com/antique-tlingit-native-hand-woven-plate/