48056

California Mission Polychrome Tray

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:750.00 USD Estimated At:3,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD
California Mission Polychrome Tray
<B>California Mission Polychrome Tray</B></I><BR>Circa 1910<BR>Diameter 11 5/8 in.<BR><BR>This coiled tray is decorated with a rattlesnake design curling around the center. The rattlesnake is flanked by a group of small crosses on both sides of its body and short striped bands towards the outer rim. The realistic depiction of rattlesnakes was common on Mission baskets. Donna Largo, a contemporary Cahuilla weaver comments, "My grandmother told me a story about the rattlesnake and how it got into the basket. She said that the women would all sit on the ground making baskets and a rattlesnake kept coming toward one lady. And she'd chase him away and chase him away. And he kept coming back. And finally she told the rattlesnake, 'If you don't go away, I'm going to put you in my basket.' Well, he wouldn't go away, so that's how we got rattlesnakes in our baskets."<BR><BR>Reference<BR>Bibby, Brian, <I>The Fine Art of California Indian Basketry,</B></I> Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, 1996, p. 92.<BR><BR>