Hopi 2nd Mesa Coiled Basket with Crow Mother Images [SOLD]

The Hopi Pueblo women of Second Mesa villages have been making coiled basketry for over a thousand years using the same materials and same techniques.  None of the materials are from domesticated sources.  They all are from wild plants.  The leaf of the yucca plant is used for the weft design and grasses are bundled together for the warp foundation.  The colors are limited to white, yellow, green, red and black.  The first three colors are derived from the yucca leaves, the difference being in the time of year the material is collected.  The rust and black colors are dyed yucca leaves.

The yucca leaves are split into narrow strips and used for coiling around the grass foundation.  Each narrow strip is inserted into the previous row of stitches using an awl for making a tiny hole for insertion of the strip.  This is done over and over as the design materializes.

This basket probably took several months of daily work just to make, not counting the laborious time and effort to gather the materials and dye some of them.  The design consists of four full views of Crow Mother Katsina.  There are some imbricating stitches on the design elements.  This basket was beautifully designed and executed.  The basket appears to be from the mid-20^th century.

Condition: very few missing stitches.  Some soiling on the bottom exists.

Provenance: from the collection of a Santa Fe resident

Recommended Reading:  Hopi Basket Weaving: Artistry in Natural Fibers by Helga Teiwes