Hopi Third Mesa Basketry Plaque with Butterfly by Mildred Albert [SOLD]

This wicker plaque basket was created by Hopi weaver Mildred Albert. Distinctive art forms are practiced at Hopi Pueblo’s three mesas.  Most of the artistically inclined women of First Mesa create pottery, but some women create plaited baskets and trays.  At Second Mesa, coil basketry is practiced.  At Third Mesa, it’s wicker basketry like the plaque featured here.  This basket’s design features a butterfly with a body made of a beautiful blue tone, the color of Hopi blue corn.

The Hopi name for a plaque like this one is “Yungyapu.”  These plaques are usually made of rabbit brush, dunebroom and yucca.  Dunebroom sticks serve as the warp element.  They are wrapped tightly with rabbit brush, which serves as the weft element.  Yucca strips, usually dyed black, are wrapped around the rim.  Scrub sumac and arroyo willow are also used for baskets like this.  Adobe Gallery lists rabbitbrush, dunebroom, and yucca as the medium because our reference materials position these three plants as those most commonly used in wicker basketry.

This basket is featured on page 35 of Gregory Schaaf’s American Indian Baskets 1: 1,500 Artist Biographies.

Mildred Abert is a Hopi basket weaver.  She is a Sun Clan member who has been making wicker baskets and plaited sifters since the 1960s.  She is a resident of Hotevilla, Hopi Third Mesa in Arizona, and her preferred designs are Katsinam.  A photograph of her is included on page 135 of Helga Teiwes’ book Hopi Basket Weaving: Artistry in Natural Fibers.

Condition: this Hopi Third Mesa Basketry Plaque with Butterfly by Mildred Albert is in very good condition

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

Relative Links: Hopi Pueblo, Native American Baskets, Mildred Albert, Hopi Third Mesa Basket Maker

References: 

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

• Circles of Life: Katsina Imagery on Hopi Basketry, Judith W. and Andrew D. Fingers

• American Indian Baskets 1: 1,500 Artist Biographies, Gregory Schaaf