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(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Basket (possibly Makah, Quinault, or Quileute)
(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Basket (possibly Makah, Quinault, or Quileute)

basket weaver
Date19th century
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumWoven grass and cedar bark
Dimensions5.4 x 10.5 cm (2 1/8 x 4 1/8 in.)
ClassificationsVessels
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberU11n12.a-b
eMuseum ID730862
EmbARK ObjectID11557
Previous NumberTEMP 190
Previous NumberU11n12
TMS Source ID750
Last Updated9/12/24
Status
Not on view
Web Commentary
This small basket was made by an Indigenous American weaver from the Makah, Quinault, or Quileute tribes on the Olympic Peninsula in present day Washington State. Similarities among weaving styles from this region include basket size and shape, weave structure, and decoration—like the band of blue birds in the mid-center wall. 

Made for a tourist market, it is possible Isabella purchased the basket—along with one in the Veronese Room—on her trip across America with stops in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Denver in 1881, or it may have been a gift. She displayed it on her desk in the Macknight Room, along with other objects of personal significance.

BibliographyNotesEllen Promise, "Searching for Answers: Isabella's Native American Basket," Inside the Collection (blog), 2 October 2023, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/searching-answers-isabellas-native-american-basket
ProvenanceNotesPossibly purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner during her travels through the American West in 1881.
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