Wabanaki strawberry basket, 1996

Contributed by Maine Historical Society

Description

As Native and non-Native cultures interacted, Wabanaki artists created new and exciting designs to meet the tourist market, including glove boxes, sewing accessories, powder dispensers, and wall pockets—sometimes in fanciful shapes like acorns and strawberries, such as this strawberry basket by an unrecorded artist, likely Penobscot.

Until around 1990, artists didn't sign their baskets, and the collectors usually didn’t record the names of the artists. Historically, tourists didn’t view the baskets as artwork, but rather as a memento of a nostalgic encounter with another culture, to recall trips to places like Bar Harbor or Indian Island, or as décor and useful objects in the large summer “cottages” on the coast.

View/Add Comments


About This Item

  • Title: Wabanaki strawberry basket, 1996
  • Creation Date: circa 1996
  • Subject Date: circa 1996
  • Location: Old Town, Penobscot County, ME
  • Media: ash, sweet grass, dye
  • Dimensions: 6.25 cm x 3.5 cm
  • Local Code: 1997.46 a,b
  • Object Type: Physical Object

Cross Reference Searches

Standardized Subject Headings

Other Keywords


For more information about this item, contact:

Maine Historical Society
485 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101
(207) 774-1822 x230
Website

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. No Permission is required to use the low-resolution watermarked image for educational use, or as allowed by the applicable copyright. For all other uses, permission is required.

How to cite content on this site


Please post your comment below to share with others. If you'd like to privately share a comment or correction with MMN staff, please send us a message with this link.