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Tsimshian Hand Woven Imbricated Polychrome Basket

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:125.00 USD Estimated At:250.00 - 500.00 USD
Tsimshian Hand Woven Imbricated Polychrome Basket
Featured in this lot is this Alaskan Tsimshian (La_xyuubm Ts'msyen) Imbricated Polychrome Basket, circa early-mid 1900s. The Tsimshian people are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only reservation in Alaska. The use of cedar-bark fibre for clothing and baskets distinguishes the Tsimshian from the Haida and the Tlingit, who favoured spruce-root fibre. This characteristic also allows archaeologists to trace the occupancy of Prince Rupert Harbour village sites to Tsimshian populations dating back to at least the first millennium B.C. All women learned to weave cedar and spruce-root baskets, but those who were especially adept were excused from household chores to practice their craft. Used for storing and transporting goods, baskets came in various sizes, both decorated and plain. Men carried fishing, hunting, and woodworking tools in baskets. Women used them for gathering wild fruits, berries, and other materials such as moss, shellfish, and seaweed. This is a classic woven cedar root basket with imbricated polychrome arrow bands around the exterior circumference. The basket is in good condition overall, one 1.25" tear located at upper .5" below rim, no other obvious marring noted Measures 5"W x diameter x 3"H