Basketry Bowl

CultureChumash, Southern California

Dateca. 1820

MediumNatural and dyed split juncus stems and sumac

DimensionsOverall: 5 × 20 3/4 inches (12.7 × 52.71 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number31-125/127

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

North American Indian Art

Terms

Gallery Label

Chumash baskets are among the rarest of all California Indian types. Spanish settlers arriving in the late 1700s forced nearly all of the Chumash into missions, where their population diminished and cultural practices such as basket weaving were stifled and slowly eradicated. The flaring form, tight weave and intricate geometric pattern of this basket are typical of the finest Chumash artistry, and its size and shape indicate that it may have been used as a serving bowl or presentation piece. The warm, richly variegated background results from the natural hue of the juncus plant.

Provenance

The Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation, New York, no. 165935, 1929-1931 [1];

Transferred from the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation, New York, to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1931 [2].

NOTES:

[1] National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, object documentation, accession lot 1929.0206. The MAI’s source is unrecorded. The Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation was founded in 1916 by George Heye (1874-1957) and opened to the public in New York City in 1922. In 1989, the remaining collection was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution and became part of the National Museum of the American Indian.

[2] In 1931, the Nelson-Atkins co-sponsored two archaeological expeditions with the Heye Foundation: one to Colombia that was directed by Gregory Mason, and a second to the Orinoco River region of Venezuela, directed by Herbert S. Dickey. The partage agreement between the two institutions specified that if the value of the found objects did not match the dollar amount invested by the Nelson-Atkins, the Heye Foundation would transfer objects from its own collection to the Nelson-Atkins to make up the difference, while also giving the Nelson-Atkins an opportunity to purchase additional objects from the Heye Foundation. When the archaeological excavations failed to meet expectations, this was one of a group of objects that were transferred/purchased from the Heye Foundation’s collection to the Nelson-Atkins.

Published References

Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

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