Featured Woven Basket - Artisan or Home Goods?

I found this small basket and it appeared to me to be made by hand. The rim is uneven, and the spokes/stakes are different sizes. The rim has a black/dark brown ring woven into the top. The rim is slightly indented so it has a bowl shape. The diameter of the open space is 5 1/2 inches and it is 3 1/4 inches tall.

The basket shows some wear - some of the spokes/stakes have broken off and there are stains. I am interested in learning more about Native American, First Nations and other basket weavers, so I picked this up and thought I would ask here, if you all would be so kind to tell me what you think (about the basket ).

 

Having recently misidentified a basket with similar technique, I was reluctant to jump in. But seeing no one else has helped yet, I will try.

Your basket is made with the coiling technique, and so would not be described as having spokes or stakes. From what I can see in your photos, it looks like a single "rod" is used as the foundation for the spiral coil. (Other types of coiled baskets may use multiple rods, or bundles of grass or other fibers as the foundation.) A separate stitching element holds the coils together. In this basket, a spaced stitching pattern is used that wraps around the entire foundation coil. (In other methods, the stitches may pierce portions of the previous coil, or interlock between coils.)

The materials used look like willow or root - they have a woody appearance (possibly split?) and, most distinctively, I can see small pits on the surface of the stitches. These could be either leaf scars in the case of willow rods ("withies" - 1 year growth of domesticated basketry willow), or root scars in the case of birch or conifer roots. Both types of material have been traditionally used in European basketry, with roots more common in the more northerly countries. However, willow has been used for basketry wherever it grows.

Here is a modern Sami basket made of birch root for comparison -







https://www.etsy.com/listing/134036...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

Yours is an interesting little basket. While many Native American groups made coiled baskets of various materials, and used wild willow (usually in a smaller size than in this basket), you rarely see the same spaced stitch technique in their work. I don't think yours is Native American.

 

I meant to add that, so far at least, all traditional forms of basketry are made by hand. They have not invented a machine that can duplicate the weaving process, although systems of mass production have been devised with many workers in factories. Yours does not appear to be a product of such modern mass production (not Home Goods).

 

I am so grateful you took the time to look at my basket. Actually, I had intended on asking you to do so, when I got on the forum tonight. As always, your detailed explanations are so helpful to someone like me who yearns to learn more about a subject, but doesn't know where to start.

I understand your reticence to put yourself forward, but we all make mistakes. It is the depth and breadth of your knowledge and your willingness to share that marks your participation here. I'm sure whatever mischaracterization you made will soon be forgotten. I hadn't witnessed it, so until you mentioned it I was none the wiser.

I didn't put the basket in the Tribal Art Forum, because I was very uncertain of its origins. I appreciate your clarifying this matter, as well as your detailed analysis. This will help me, as well as others who read this post, in the future to know what to watch for. I am truly grateful for your response.

 

I hoped at least it wasn't a mass produced item. I thank you for telling me this. I just assumed there were machines that manufactured baskets based on their ubiquitous presence in stores.
I often purchase baskets when I travel because they represent an art form that regular people create and often follow traditional patterns.

I appreciate your insights and thank you for responding to my post.

 

Glad to be of help.