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- 210727-078 Coast Salish Pedistal Imbricated basket
210727-078 Coast Salish Pedistal Imbricated basket
Early 20th century
5 1/2" x 8 1/4" ; minor wear as pictured, overall in good condition
This form was made for the early tourist industry.
From S'abadeb, The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists:
"Just as different families have access to different types of advice, each basket-making family also has their own way of doing things. While cedar roots and decorative materials, such as wild cherry bark and cattail or canary grass, must be gathered in the spring and early summer months when the sap is running in the trees, each basket maker prepares their materials in a preferred way—usually the way they were taught by their relatives. Roots must be collected in areas without rocks that can cause kinks in them, but beyond that they may be split in different ways and are set aside to dry for different lengths of time." pg. 187
"Coiled baskets are usually ornamented with designs placed on the main body of the basket in a technique known as imbrication. The colors result from different materials and dyes used for the imbricated strands; bear grass bleached in the sun for white, or dyed yellow with the inner bark of Oregon grape; wild cheery bark for deep shiny red; roots of horsetail or dyed cedar bark for black. The foundation and sewing strands are of cedar root (rarely spruce root) and form the background of the design." Pg. 217