Advanced Search
Advanced Search

Tray

Attributed to: Guadalupe Arenas (Native American (Desert Cahuilla))
Native American, Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians
about 1900
Object Place: California (Southern Coastal), United States, Pacific Region, California

Medium/Technique Coiled grass stems, juncus grass, sumac
Dimensions Overall: 3.8 x 29.2 x 29.2 cm (1 1/2 x 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.)
Credit Line John Wheelock Elliot and John Morse Elliot Fund
Accession Number1992.197
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsBasketry

DescriptionShallow tray of spiralling coils lashed with honey-colored material. Rattlesnake icon, lashed into coils with blackish-brown material, bands one-third of the rim with the head directed toward the center.
ProvenanceAbout 1900, said to have been traded with or made for a family in California [see note]; sold with the family collection to a private collector; sold by this private collector to Hurst Gallery, Cambridge, MA; 1992, sold by Hurst Gallery to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 26, 1992)

NOTE: According to information provided at the time of acquisition, the basket was acquired by a family in California who owned a lumber business. It was one of 30 or 40 baskets traded by the members of the Cahuilla Mission for lumber in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The California collection was later sold to a private collector.