Featured Small lidded Basket

Any thoughts on what this is? It measures 3 inches tall and 6 inches across....

 

@2manybooks

 

The materials look like pine needles stitched with raffia. It can be difficult to be sure about its origin, as coiling with pine needles and raffia was a style developed in the 20th century and is a craft that has been practiced by indigenous and non-indigenous weavers alike.

However, some features of your basket are similar to baskets held in the National Museum of the American Indian that are identified as Coushatta (Koasati) - the basic shape, the use of the feather stitch on the bottom portion, and the X shaped stitches along the rim of the lid. But I have not seen examples of Coushatta pine needle baskets that use such long sections of solid stitching, or the dark (dyed?) needles.

Here is a comparison from the NMAI -


https://americanindian.si.edu/collections-search/object/NMAI_271756

And another from a dealer (whose price, I think, is overly optimistic) -

https://ciscosgallery.com/products/coushatta-pine-needle-basket-ah1171

 

Nice basket... if indigenous, would the small size indicate a tourist piece?

 

The Native American groups who make pine needle baskets, such as the Coushatta and Seminole, adopted the technique almost exclusively for baskets made for sale. Baskets made for their own use were traditionally made from different materials, such as rivercane, white oak splints, and grasses.

https://www.coushatta.org/basket-making/

 

Thank you, @2manybooks .