Chumash coin-design presentation basket made by María Marta Zaputimeu, early 1800s. Three-rod juncus foundation is sewn with finely split sumac, black-dyed juncus, and a small amount of natural-orange juncus in the base design. The interior of the basket features the coat of arms of the Spanish kings repeated four times. This design was copied from a Spanish colonial coin known as the pillar dollar or piece of eight. The inscription reads "MARIA MARTA NEOFITA DE LA MISION DE EL SERAFICO DOCTOR SAN BVENAVENTVRA ME HIZO AN" (Maria Marta, neophyte of the mission of the Seraphic Doctor San Buenaventura made me [in the year]). According to Timbrook (2014), "María Marta Zaputimeu (also spelled Saputimehue) was a Chumash woman born at the village of S'omɨs, namesake of the present-day town of Semis. She was baptized at nearby Mission San Buenaventura on June 5, 1788, at about twenty-one years of age (Mission San Buenaventura 1782-1808:No. 363). She had no children and died in 1830." According to Timbrook (2014), close inspection reveals "that fluffy white feathers were inserted horizontally into the foundation on the nonwork face, as the basket was being woven. These appear only on the exterior and are associated only with the four vertical pillarlike design elements that alternate with the shield figures." According to Timbrook, the incorporation of feathers was a stunning departure from Chumash tradition: "this use of feathers is more like that seen in Ohlone and Pomo examples.... and until now has been completely unknown in Chumash basketry." Diameter: approximately 16¼ inches; height: 6½ inches. About 320 weft strands per inch.
Donor:
Zelia Nuttall
Collection place:
San Buenaventura Mission, Ventura, Ventura County
Verbatim coll. place:
California; Ventura; San Buenaventura Mission
Production place:
San Buenaventura Mission, Ventura, Ventura County
Culture or time period:
Chumash
Maker or artist:
María Marta Zaputimeu
Collector:
Zelia Nuttall
Collection date:
before October 20, 1920
Taxon:
Juncus, Juncus textilis, and Rhus trilobata
Inscription:
MARIA MARTA NEOFITA DE LA MISION DE EL SERAFICO DOCTOR SAN BVENAVENTVRA ME HIZO AN
Object type:
ethnography
Function:
1.5 Household and 5.7 Objects made for sale, souvenirs, models, and reproductions
Production date:
ca. 1822
Accession date:
1920
Department:
Native California (archaeology and ethnology)
Comment:
Discovered by Zelia Nuttall in an antiquities shop in Mexico City in 1919 or 1920. Photo: 15-6406, 15-6407. Originally thought by Nuttall to have been made for presentation to the visiting general Jose de la Cruz, but no evidence exists to support this claim. Published: * Nuttall, Zelia, 1924, Calif. Hist. Soc. Quart., Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 341-343. * Dawson & Deetz, 1965, UCLA Arch. Survey Rep. 1965, pl. 14b. * Timbrook, Jan, 2014. American Indian Art Magazine 39(3): 50-57 Remarks: "Juana Basilia, buried at Ventura, 1838, maker of twin basket kept at Santa Barbara Mus. of Nat. Hist.
Loans:
D2015.001: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History/Jan Timbrook (March 4, 2015–n/a), S1963-1964 #73: University of California, Santa Barbara (March 18, 1964–April 17, 1965), S1970-1971 #132: California State University, East Bay/Vera Mae Frederickson (May 17, 1971–April 10, 1972), S1996-1997 #1: Crocker Art Museum (July 26, 1996–July 8, 1997), S1997-1998 #4: Oakland Museum of California (January 16, 1998–December 9, 1999), S2009-2010 #10: Thacher Gallery (Univ. of San Francisco) (August 2, 2010–December 20, 2010), and S2015-2016 #3: Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley) (May 5, 2016–August 2, 2016)