Basket time!

I got a bunch’o baskets this weekend. I would LOVE some help with them. I collect Native American baskets but know very little about them and how to ID them. I just rely on sellers doing so basically. Someone here provided me with a good basket resource once I think. It’s hard to learn about everything though and baskets seem particularly tricky to me. I’ll get there someday though. I believe it’s possible some of these are NA? Some possibly African? Some no clue... I know I’ve seen the coil technique on a lot of NA baskets but I assume it’s not exclusive to NA’s. Bottom right of the first photo is a set of five. I don’t know of “sets” of NA basketry so those I’m wondering if they came from somewhere else. Then I assume 6 isn’t NA. I really don’t know though so with any luck I’ll get some help here. I know there’s some basket lovers so at the very least hopefully they will be fun to look at. I don’t think any are antique (#5 could have a little more age) but I bet they are vintage 20-50 years old or so.

I just realized you can only upload ten photos per message so more below.

 

More...

 

#1 is probably Tohono O'odham, formerly called Papago, from Arizona. It is the only Native American basket in the group. The rest are African, made by the Hausa.

#3 is a Pakistani copy of a Papago basket. There should be no difference between the front and back, but the copies usually have the back surface rougher, and they use a herringbone rim finish, unlike the Papago.

(Wish I had better news, but these are all recent, widely available in import shops and flea markets.)

#4 and #5 are also African.

#6 is an Asian plaited bamboo basket, probably from China.

#7 is from Lombok, Indonesia.

The first reference I always recommend is Art of the Basket, Traditional Basketry from Around the World by Bryan Sentance, since it shows lots of photos of the baskets most often misidentified as Native American, as well as authentic NA baskets, and describes the techniques, materials, and forms that will help identify the differences.

 

I'm still recovering from last week's kidney stone problem, and resulting surgery, so I'm not checking in too often, and noticed I may have been a little abrupt in my answer.

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions I can about these, or other, baskets. I'm not feeling like doing anything else, so I welcome the distraction! I just may not be checking the forum quite as frequently as usual.

 

Get well soon @Taupou ! That sounds so painful

 

Not at all abrupt! I got them all in one lot with a TON of other stuff pretty cheap. I wouldn’t have bought the lot without the baskets but I bought them knowing there probably wasn’t great value or age. I’ll still do well I think. I appreciate you taking the time. So #1 is the group/set of 5 baskets. When you said that was the lone NA basket did you mean that set or did you mean #2 (smaller with blurry photo) which could be mistaken for a one the way it looks in my digital scribble? I actually thought if any were NA that they would be Papago. I own a couple Papago baskets and that’s what they reminded me of. At least I think they are Papago. I’ll have to post them some time.
#3 and #5 are the others I thought could be NA. Interesting to know that #3 is a copy of an NA basket made in Pakistan. I did get two other large lidded baskets in the same auction I’ll have to post as well. Guessing they aren’t NA but they could be I suppose. There were two nice NA baskets in a different lot but that one went too high for my liking.
Hope you fell better! Thanks again for taking the time to ID them all and for mentioning that resource.

 

Here are the two large baskets from a different lot I mentioned. Well here is one of them, they are matching. Actually there was a few others in that lot too but they are very “American” looking.

These two are way bigger than I imagined when bidding. They make great storage actually. I’m going to guess they are African?

 

Yes, these are palm fiber baskets, from Africa.

It's actually a good thing that you have several of these to examine, as African baskets are so often misidentified as Native American. They can be made with similar techniques, and can be very well-made, but the material they are made from, while it looks similar from a distance, is quite different from the yucca and other materials that the Native American baskets are made from.

Learning to spot palm fiber, the way it looks when stitched in a basket, and the way it takes a dye (as well as the colors used) is a major part of being able to identify a given basket.

So, I'd say starting with learning what palm fiber, bamboo, nito vine, and rattan and raffia stitching look like, would be a great place to start. With the exception of raffia, used for a short period of time by Quinault weavers in Washington state, a basket made from any of the other materials will not be NA.

 

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Sending you Well Wishes for a NOT Fun sounding surgery!! Speedy Recovery, @Taupou!!

 

I hope the road to recovery is swift and smooth !!!

 

@Taupou................

May the recovery be quicker than imagined!

 

Ouch, get well soon!

 

Thank all of you for the kind words, it's making this more bearable. I kind of knew what to expect, since I've had a history of "making rocks" (both kidney and gall stones, which I have long ceased to consider mere "stones.")

Thankfully, one seldom dies from attacks, you just reach the point of wishing you would. It's by far the most intense physical pain I've ever encountered. But, as we say, this, too, shall
"pass." It gets a little better every day. Thank you, again.

 

I agree, it is one of the most extreme pains there is. Fortunately my kidney stones decided to leave the natural way, but they definitely made their presence known before they did. But at least you are rid of your little tormentors now. I hope the healing process will be speedy.

 

Thank you, AJ. You, and so many others on the forum, are such a great help. And I'm not talking just about antiques!

 

@Taupou ... this too shall pass
I'm glad you are still able to be punny!