Burden basket

Museum number:
1-28560
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21010028560
Accession number:
Acc.667
Description:
Tightly woven burden basket. White overlay designs, stripes, and band of white geometric figures, "see-saw" designs, and large white vertical zigzags. Twined, truncated cone shape. Rope strap. Hoop lashed to inside of rim with buckskin strip. A short length of rope and 2 strips of cotton attached to rim, one with a bone button on it. Tag "Nongatl". Per Ralph Shanks: Close-twined truncated conical burden basket, probably not used. Crossed warp starting knot, slightly dissimilar to Northwestern California starting knots. The basket has a peeled shoot warp with conifer root wefts and beargrass weft design overlay. There is a peeled shoot reinforcing rod at the interior rim that is attached to the upper weft rows, using a leather cord, with an up to the right slanted leather lashing going through the basket every 1/2 inch or so. Starting at the starting knot there is 2 inches of three strand twining, followed by plain twining up to 1/2 inch from the rim, where there is a single weft row of three strand twining, followed by plain twining to the rim, which is trimmed. Starting at the base there are about 4 inches of vertical lines of beargrass followed by three beargrass horizontal bands, followed by a widely spaced band of triangles topped by a bar and two rectangles, this is followed by vertical zigzags, followed by two horizontal bands, followed by a band of two stacked opposite direction parallelograms forming an arrow. The rim is trimmed. The basket undulates. The workface is on the exterior. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. The overlay is two sided, with the primary design on the exterior and a purposeful minor design on the interior. The lashing technique and the undulation of the body of the basket are probably Southern Humboldt Athabaskan characteristics. The shape of the basket has Northwestern California influence.
Donor:
Gladys Ayer Nomland and University Appropriation
Collection place:
16-18 miles above Blue Lake, Mad River, Humboldt County
Verbatim coll. place:
California; Mad River; Upper Mad River
Culture or time period:
Nongatl
Collector:
Gladys Ayer Nomland, Minnie Pete, and Will Taggitt
Collection date:
July 1931
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Burden baskets and Twined weaving
Function:
1.5 Household
Accession date:
1931
Context of use:
Burden basket.
Department:
Native California (archaeology and ethnology)
Dimensions:
height 39 centimeters
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 2 titled Burden basket, accession number 1-28560, described as Tightly woven burden basket. White overlay designs, stripes, and band of white geometric figures, "see-saw" designs, and large white vertical zigzags. Twined, truncated cone shape. Rope strap. Hoop lashed to inside of rim with buckskin strip. A short length of rope and 2 strips of cotton attached to rim, one with a bone button on it. Tag "Nongatl". Per Ralph Shanks: Close-twined truncated conical burden basket, probably not used. Crossed warp starting knot, slightly dissimilar to Northwestern California starting knots. The basket has a peeled shoot warp with conifer root wefts and beargrass weft design overlay. There is a peeled shoot reinforcing rod at the interior rim that is attached to the upper weft rows, using a leather cord, with an up to the right slanted leather lashing going through the basket every 1/2 inch or so. Starting at the starting knot there is 2 inches of three strand twining, followed by plain twining up to 1/2 inch from the rim, where there is a single weft row of three strand twining, followed by plain twining to the rim, which is trimmed. Starting at the base there are about 4 inches of vertical lines of beargrass followed by three beargrass horizontal bands, followed by a widely spaced band of triangles topped by a bar and two rectangles, this is followed by vertical zigzags, followed by two horizontal bands, followed by a band of two stacked opposite direction parallelograms forming an arrow. The rim is trimmed. The basket undulates. The workface is on the exterior. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. The overlay is two sided, with the primary design on the exterior and a purposeful minor design on the interior. The lashing technique and the undulation of the body of the basket are probably Southern Humboldt Athabaskan characteristics. The shape of the basket has Northwestern California influence.Hearst Museum object 2 of 2 titled Burden basket, accession number 1-28560, described as Tightly woven burden basket. White overlay designs, stripes, and band of white geometric figures, "see-saw" designs, and large white vertical zigzags. Twined, truncated cone shape. Rope strap. Hoop lashed to inside of rim with buckskin strip. A short length of rope and 2 strips of cotton attached to rim, one with a bone button on it. Tag "Nongatl". Per Ralph Shanks: Close-twined truncated conical burden basket, probably not used. Crossed warp starting knot, slightly dissimilar to Northwestern California starting knots. The basket has a peeled shoot warp with conifer root wefts and beargrass weft design overlay. There is a peeled shoot reinforcing rod at the interior rim that is attached to the upper weft rows, using a leather cord, with an up to the right slanted leather lashing going through the basket every 1/2 inch or so. Starting at the starting knot there is 2 inches of three strand twining, followed by plain twining up to 1/2 inch from the rim, where there is a single weft row of three strand twining, followed by plain twining to the rim, which is trimmed. Starting at the base there are about 4 inches of vertical lines of beargrass followed by three beargrass horizontal bands, followed by a widely spaced band of triangles topped by a bar and two rectangles, this is followed by vertical zigzags, followed by two horizontal bands, followed by a band of two stacked opposite direction parallelograms forming an arrow. The rim is trimmed. The basket undulates. The workface is on the exterior. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. The overlay is two sided, with the primary design on the exterior and a purposeful minor design on the interior. The lashing technique and the undulation of the body of the basket are probably Southern Humboldt Athabaskan characteristics. The shape of the basket has Northwestern California influence.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Burden basket, accession number 1-28560, described as Tightly woven burden basket. White overlay designs, stripes, and band of white geometric figures, "see-saw" designs, and large white vertical zigzags. Twined, truncated cone shape. Rope strap. Hoop lashed to inside of rim with buckskin strip. A short length of rope and 2 strips of cotton attached to rim, one with a bone button on it. Tag "Nongatl". Per Ralph Shanks: Close-twined truncated conical burden basket, probably not used. Crossed warp starting knot, slightly dissimilar to Northwestern California starting knots. The basket has a peeled shoot warp with conifer root wefts and beargrass weft design overlay. There is a peeled shoot reinforcing rod at the interior rim that is attached to the upper weft rows, using a leather cord, with an up to the right slanted leather lashing going through the basket every 1/2 inch or so. Starting at the starting knot there is 2 inches of three strand twining, followed by plain twining up to 1/2 inch from the rim, where there is a single weft row of three strand twining, followed by plain twining to the rim, which is trimmed. Starting at the base there are about 4 inches of vertical lines of beargrass followed by three beargrass horizontal bands, followed by a widely spaced band of triangles topped by a bar and two rectangles, this is followed by vertical zigzags, followed by two horizontal bands, followed by a band of two stacked opposite direction parallelograms forming an arrow. The rim is trimmed. The basket undulates. The workface is on the exterior. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. The overlay is two sided, with the primary design on the exterior and a purposeful minor design on the interior. The lashing technique and the undulation of the body of the basket are probably Southern Humboldt Athabaskan characteristics. The shape of the basket has Northwestern California influence.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Burden basket, accession number 1-28560, described as Tightly woven burden basket. White overlay designs, stripes, and band of white geometric figures, "see-saw" designs, and large white vertical zigzags. Twined, truncated cone shape. Rope strap. Hoop lashed to inside of rim with buckskin strip. A short length of rope and 2 strips of cotton attached to rim, one with a bone button on it. Tag "Nongatl". Per Ralph Shanks: Close-twined truncated conical burden basket, probably not used. Crossed warp starting knot, slightly dissimilar to Northwestern California starting knots. The basket has a peeled shoot warp with conifer root wefts and beargrass weft design overlay. There is a peeled shoot reinforcing rod at the interior rim that is attached to the upper weft rows, using a leather cord, with an up to the right slanted leather lashing going through the basket every 1/2 inch or so. Starting at the starting knot there is 2 inches of three strand twining, followed by plain twining up to 1/2 inch from the rim, where there is a single weft row of three strand twining, followed by plain twining to the rim, which is trimmed. Starting at the base there are about 4 inches of vertical lines of beargrass followed by three beargrass horizontal bands, followed by a widely spaced band of triangles topped by a bar and two rectangles, this is followed by vertical zigzags, followed by two horizontal bands, followed by a band of two stacked opposite direction parallelograms forming an arrow. The rim is trimmed. The basket undulates. The workface is on the exterior. The basket has a rightward work direction and an up to the right slant of weft twist. The overlay is two sided, with the primary design on the exterior and a purposeful minor design on the interior. The lashing technique and the undulation of the body of the basket are probably Southern Humboldt Athabaskan characteristics. The shape of the basket has Northwestern California influence.

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