Large Hopi Basket Plaque with Three Turtles by Pauline Quiyo [SOLD]

This enormous plaque basket was made by Hopi Second Mesa basket weaver Pauline Quiyo.  It features a strong, unusual design that was created by skilled and experienced hands.  A checkerboard spiral decorates the basket’s center.  From this spiral, four lines emerge and ultimately join with larger exterior patterns.  Three large turtles are framed by black lines between these patterns.  The design is playful and unusual.  When viewing the basket, it’s easy to imagine Quiyo enjoying herself while dreaming up its design.  This is a lovely Second Mesa plaque basket.

While the design is noteworthy, the white “background” is equally worthy of our attention.  Its subtle variations create waves of quietly shifting white yucca leaves. A passage in Helga Teiwes’ Hopi Basket Weaving: Artistry in Natural Fibers highlights the fact that the procurement and preparation of this white material is no small feat. “To achieve the white color for the sewing fibers, the fresh shoots from the center of the yucca plant have to be gathered from late July through August and September.  These young leaves are almost white and need little if any bleaching in the sun.  The goal of the weaver is to get as white a yucca leaf for coiling as possible before she starts her white design.  In addition, the whiter the leaves are, the easier they are to dye and transform into pleasing reds and blacks.”

This basket is featured on page 67 (see below) of Gregory Schaaf’s American Indian Baskets 1: 1,500 Artist Biographies.  Photo by Allan Nelson.

Pauline Quiyo (Quayo) is a Hopi basketmaker who has been active since the 1970s. Gregory Schaaf’s American Indian Baskets 1: 1,500 Artist Biographies refers to Quiyo as a “master weaver.”  She is an Eagle Clan member.  Her preferred forms are plaques (“poota”) and bowls (“wukopotasivu”).

Condition: this Large Hopi Basket Plaque with Three Turtles by Pauline Quiyo is in very good condition

Provenance: from the large collection of Allan Nelson, an avid Native American art collector.

Reference: Hopi Basket Weaving: Artistry in Natural Fibers, Helga Teiwes

Relative Links: Hopi Pueblo, Native American Baskets, Pauline Quiyo, Hopi Second Mesa Basket Maker