Round, tall, woven basket. From a wide mouth, the basket curves in at the neck, flares out again at the shoulder, then tapers slightly down to a rounded base. The bottom has an 8 point star-shaped design, and the body is circled with two prominent, dark, zigzagging lines surrounding standing human figures and four legged animals with long upright ears. Triangles and more four legged animals decorate the neck of the basket.

Finely woven, round plaque with “Man in the Maze” pattern. On a light yellow-brown background, a small human figure stands above the dark brown woven lines of a maze, representing the twists and turns of life as one makes his way toward the Sun God in the centre circle. The weave of the plaque is tight and even, and the image is present on both front and back.

Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund

Gift of Frederic B. Pratt

Open rimmed birch bark basket, sewn at sides with pale yellow root strips and stitched around rim with pieces of reddish-brown bark underneath and woven into strips of pale yellow root. Decorative row of plant motif designs around two longest sides. Darker side of bark on outside, paler inside. Signed, dated on base.

Gift of Mrs. Otto Goepel

Museum Expedition 1908, Museum Collection Fund

Museum Expedition 1908, Museum Collection Fund

Coiled tan basket with brown, triangle-like designs. The bark design elements are woven in briar root, which has limited distribution in California. While it is a difficult material to trim and work with it is a favorite material of Mary Azbil and she used it especially on baskets she made for family and friends. The design layout requires a great deal of planning and patience. Presentation baskets are invariably fancier than everyday containers and this basket appears to have never been used for food.

08.491.8679 basket is on the left. This basket has the plume or top-know motif on a cooking basket (bush-ka). These types of baskets with one or two patterns are found in the Maidu community of Mikchopdo at Chico CA. The design is valley quail and grape leaves (the diamonds).The quail pattern is weaver Wilson's best known basket design and can appear in different patterns: some called mountain quail and some, such as seen here, the more common valley quail, where the plume is curved and thick.