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1884.44.19.1

Basket narrowing towards the rim, and with black bands swirling around the body. The lid associated with this object is [1884.44.19 .2]. [MOBB [OPS move] 3/11/2016]

1884.44.19.1

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Collection type
Object
Description
Basket narrowing towards the rim, and with black bands swirling around the body. The lid associated with this object is [1884.44.19 .2]. [MOBB [OPS move] 3/11/2016]
Long description
Twined basket with lid `of soft rush' (probably spruce root - LM) in red (originally) with black whorl design over surface: rattles in lid. This is a `something-inside-basket', TOO-DUH-KUHK. The rattle in the lid is probably lead shot. The design is 'fern-frond' (Paul 1944:38,66).
Cultural groups
Tlingit
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1870, uncertain
Date collected
1862 - 1870
Acquisition information
Donated: 1884
Materials and processes
Material Spruce Wood Plant, Material Grass Fibre Plant, Process Twined Woven, Process False-Embroidered, Process Basketry
Dimensions
Height: max 152 mm total, Diameter: max 165 mm total, Height: max 127 mm, Diameter: max 165 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1884.44.19.1 PR no.: 132/ 12099
Research and responses

Originally entered as `Queen Charlotte Island - Haida.' Dr. Erna Gunther, Director, Washington State Museum (visited July 1964) identified it as Tlingit. [AP Leverhulme project on founding collection 1995-1998]

Teri Rofkar (Tlingit Tribe) and Luba Dovgan-Nurse examined this object during a research visit in November 2011. They made the following comments: This object is probably from Sitka. It is made in a solid weave. The red dye is made from alder. The rattling object are maybe seeds. Teri called this a ‘ginger jar’, referring to the shape. The pattern on the lid represents a coiled fern-frond, a ‘fiddle-head’. This object has had some treatment and the colour is now much darker than it originally was. [El.B 22/11/2011]

Associated publications
Illustrated in black and white as figure 46 on page 46 of Basketmakers Meaning and Form in Native American Baskets, edited by Linda Mowat, Howard Morphy and Penny Dransart (Oxford: Pitt Rivers Museum, University if Oxford, Mongraph 5, 1992). Caption reads: ‘Alaska or British Columbia, Tlingit. ‘Something inside basket’, too-duh-kukk, twined of spruce root with false embroidery in grass. ‘Fern frog’ design in black and brown. Lid contains rattling pellets, probably lead shot. H: 150 mm; max dia: 155 mm. Collected by Dr. Frederick Dally, probably in the 1860s. Pitt Rivers collection. 1884.44.19’ [MJD 16/01/2013]

Search terms: Basketry, Music, Vessel, Basket, Musical Instrument, Rattle