Pitched, twined, basketry water bottle, flat bottom.
Donor:
Frederick J. Moller
Collection place:
Arizona
Verbatim coll. place:
Arizona
Culture or time period:
Akimel O'odham ("Pima") and Apache
Collector:
Annie Moller
Collection date:
unknown
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Basketry (object genre), Bottles, and Twined weaving
Function:
1.5 Household
Accession date:
1932
Context of use:
Apache water olla, tūs, twined and covered with piñon (pinus edulis) pitch to prevent leaks and make the ollas waterproof. Soft pitch is poured into the olla with hot rocks, and it is turned until the whole interior of the basket is covered. There was always a concerted effort to make the exterior as smooth as possible for one’s pride as a skilled weaver, but the work done for ollas was hardly the best one could offer since pitch would cover up any holes. Plain exteriors were common. Ollas are carried around the back and suspended by lugs made of horsehair, buckskin, or leather.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Comment:
cf. Apache Indian Baskets, Turner The Basketry of the San Carlos Apache, Roberts (Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Vol. XXXI, Part II)
Loans:
S1967-1968 #25 [formerly I-54-B]: University of California, Riverside/John F. Goins (July 1, 1954–present)