Northwest Coast Native American
Basket (possibly Makah, Quinault, or Quileute), 19th century
Woven grass and cedar bark, 5.4 x 10.5 cm (2 1/8 x 4 1/8 in.)
A woven straw basket with a lid. It's color is like a burnt sienna and the body is round. The lid has a hole in the center. The base of the basket is flat and has two smaller holes on opposite ends of the circular bottom.
Macknight Room
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.