Basket Tray
Cahuilla artist, Basket Tray, ca. 1920, sumac, juncus, and grass, The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection, no known copyright restrictions, 91.95.31
This work is not currently on view.
- Title
Basket Tray
- Artist
- Date
ca. 1920
- Medium
sumac, juncus, and grass
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
2 1/4 in x 17 1/2 in x 26 in
- Collection Area
Native American Art
- Category
California
Great Basin
Baskets
- Object Type
basket
- Cultural Group
Cahuilla
Mission
- Credit Line
The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection
- Accession Number
91.95.31
- Copyright
no known copyright restrictions
- Terms
This basket tray, in the complexity of its design and the quality of its execution, is perhaps the ultimate expression of the Mission basket weaver's art. It was probably made expressly to be sold to a non-Native collector. Fancy Mission baskets destined for the marketplace often incorporated human and animal figures, especially snakes. This complex composition features a lizard in the center with opposing rattlesnakes curling up the sides of the basket. A bat and several quadrupeds with long flowing tails complete the design.
