Presentation Bowl

1880–90

Native North America, Great Basin, California, Death Valley, Timbisha (Panamint) Shoshone

Medium

devil's claw, sumac, yucca root, orange-shafted flicker (woodpecker) quills; coiled (2 rod and bundle of deer grass or basket grass)

Measurements

Diameter: 21.5 x 48 cm (8 7/16 x 18 7/8 in.)

Credit Line

Presented by William Albert Price in memory of Mrs. William Albert Price 1917.482

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The two small, pink crosses on this basket may be a maker’s mark.

Description

This basket was made for the Euro-American collectors’ market in the early 1900s but it is modeled on basketry bowls from which the Timbisha (Panamint) Shoshone once served food. When used indigenously, the main view would have been of the interior. The two small, pink crosses, made of flicker (woodpecker) quills, may be a maker’s mark. Made-for-sale baskets testify to Indigenous women’s truly creative, resilient responses to forces that endangered their livelihoods and existence.