Basket bonanza part 2

This is Part 2 of the 3 part series. The baskets that may? be better than those in Part 1, but that is mostly gut feel. So calling anyone with an opinion - especially @komokwa @Taupou @2manybooks

As before, the grid has one inch squares to help estimate the size. And as before, besides where and when made, I'd really appreciate any pointers on which if any are better and should be put aside (and not sent back to thrift) regardless of where it was made.

 

Goodness, you are giving us a workout!
Just some quick IDs for the first round.
1 - contemporary "artisan" basket, not particularly well done.
2 - coiled pine needle, probably crafts quality, but possibly SE US (Seminole, Coushatta)
3 - Chinese - very common.
4 - Woodland Native American, (northeastern states and into Canada), wood splint and commercial seagrass cordage. the interior smaller baskets are probably wood splint and sweetgrass.
5 - don't know - probably Asian.
6 - contemporary artisan, dyed cane/rattan/reed.
7 - Tarahumara, northern Mexico, of sotol.
8 - SE Asian.
9 - probably South African/Botswana.

 

#4 The little sewing basket or etui with woven implement covers is very sweet.

 

Whats in the other two little baskets? (#4)

If one's a tape measure, that'd be very cool.

 

To amplify #3: Chinese; often called "Nixon-era" or Prisoner" baskets because importation of this style began in the Nixon era, and they were said to have been made by prison labor. Importing continues today, value very minimal in the import stores($2 or so, new). You'll see matched nesting sets; some signs to look for: an octagon shape is likely Chinese, not Native American; the strap-like handle is another Chinese characteristic.

 

Bump to @komokwa.

 

I'm biding my time ........ just to swoop in with personal comments, and / or additions...


once you guys tear the meat off the bone....there's usually not a lot for me to add....

buuuuuutt......since you've asked....

#3.......burn the sucker !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... NOW !!
All_fakes is bang on....I'll only add....just saw one on eBay asking over $200 US.
Folks mistake them for Makah / Nootka baskets....& then others post theirs thinking they have a hit !! Which they do not !!!!!

#4.... you're right...with slight modifications....
It's most likely a Wabanaki fancy purse, which someone transitioned into a sewing basket by adding thimble , scissor, thread & needle secondary basket work.
Made of ash...with some minor sweet grass decoration....the main body is covered by what's become known as Hong Kong Cord ( foot note #1 ) .
It's one of the few almost foolproof ways of dating this style of material usage to a least a 15 year window on these baskets...
Circa 1924 to 1939..... with to the best of my knowledge....the cord being used more heavily as the years went on.


This Maine basket shows a similar weaving structure and vibrant coloring...



This is an earlier Penobscot sewing basket...which clearly uses woven & braided sweetgrass alone....




Jeff....put this one aside....it won't make you rich....but it should make you a profit !



#6........ grrrr.....yes it looks like it's made from some type of reed....but the design closely resembles a classic Taconic gathering basket....and will fool the average collector.....just from the handles alone....




That's all I can add that's worth saying.......




Footnote ( 1 ).....

From the Hudson Museum.....
Extensive quantities of sweetgrass were used in Maine Indian fancy baskets from the late 19th century to the 1930s. In the 1920s, braided sweetgrass infilling gave way to the use of a new, weaving material–Hong Kong cord. As its name implies, this fibrous material came from Hong Kong and could be purchased by the skein from local stores. The use of purchased cord increased basket production by saving enormous amounts of labor that had been devoted to braiding sweetgrass.

From the Maine Historical Society ...
This sewing basket is decorated with braided sweetgrass and a paper twine known as "Hong Kong." In the 1930s, “Hong Kong,” a manufactured paper twine, became a popular replacement for sweetgrass, which required long hours to collect and braid.

 

Also known as "sea grass", which is a natural material and what I mentioned. And still imported and available from basket making suppliers. Nice information in your footnotes.


http://www.basketmakerscatalog.com/ps/sea-grass/321-3-sea-grass.html

The manufactured paper cordage is now called "fiber rush":

http://www.basketmakerscatalog.com/...coil.html?search_query=fiber+rush&results=110

 

yes you did , & while it's also been called sea grass, that term is so close to sweet grass that many folks will not see the difference, so the term Hong Kong Cord is preferred to distinguish one from the other focusing on the fact that it is a non native fiber, which is also used to date the baskets .

 

Sorry to take so long to reply, and Thank you. Yes, the large one contains a rolled up yellow cloth measuring tape, the small one contains a thimble.

 

For number 4, does Wabanaki include Passamaquoddy? I ask because I spent a lot of time as a kid up in Maine, right next to the Passamaquoddy reservation (in Princeton ME). I always felt how badly they had been screwed so have an affection for anything they have made.

My only disappointment is number 8, which I really liked the design of. Can I ask where in SE Asia; is it possible to pin it down to a country, what it was used for, and about when made?

Thanks!

 

Wabanaki Confederacy. The Wabanaki Confederacy (Wabenaki, Wobanaki, translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") are a First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal nations: the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki, and Penobscot.

There are times when it's hard to pin down exactly who made what when and where.....

"how badly they had been screwed" .... ya I know the feeling......
10,000 Haida......whittled down to 600...... I get ya !

#8..I can pick up at my thrift for a buck......I keep part of my matches collection in a huge round one... I call it Chinese.../?

 

#8...if you look at the center image.....u could tell folks it's a Dolce & Gabana..

 

OK - another possibility for #8 - take a look at Yekuana baskets from Venezuela. They make twill woven baskets from cane that look surprisingly similar to some Asian baskets, including what I think is a design of a monkey in the center. But the Yekuana baskets I have seen are round, not rectangular containers like yours. And the treatment of the edges is different. It may just be a confluence of similar techniques and materials. But perhaps @Taupou could sort it out.

 

Back at my computer (rather than phone) I have been able to poke around a bit more. Here is an example of the monkey pattern in a Yekuana tray:
and I found that some men among the Yekuana do weave square boxes:

https://www.coleccioncisneros.org/editorial/cite-site-sights/waja-designs-part-1

Just to clarify - is #8 two pieces - a base and lid? It is a little difficult to tell from the photos.

 

Browsing through the online catalogs of the National Museum of the American Indian and the American Museum of Natural History, I found similarly constructed baskets from Guyana that are described as strainers for preparing manioc/cassava (tapioca).

https://collections.si.edu/search/d..._1&record=3&hlterm=cassava+basket&inline=true

https://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/databases/common/image_dup.cfm?catno= 1 / 2004