Unangax̂ (Aleut)
Basket with Lid
Unangan (Aleut), 1900-1932
Scroll
Unangax̂ (Aleut)
Basket with Lid
Unangan (Aleut), 1900-1932
Physical Qualities
Wild rye, silk floss, 4 3/4 x Diam. 3 11/16 in. (12 x 9.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift from the Estate of Mrs. Edward C. True
Object Number
1950.156
Indigenous artists have been weaving baskets and crafting boxes for millennia. The array of objects seen here come from disparate regions of North America, but they all have one trait in common: they were made from materials that shared their homeland with the Native artists who crafted them.
Artists utilized botanical knowledge passed down through generations to craft works like these. In North Carolina, Cherokee artist Emma Jackson Garrett collected rivercane and created natural dyes from bloodroot and walnut to make her baskets. To craft this box, an Algonquin artist in the Northeast carefully peeled bark from a paper birch so as to not harm the tree. The black material used to generate the squash-blossom design frequently found on Akimel O’odham baskets is derived from devil’s claw, a pronged seed pod that an artist must soak, carefully split, then bury in wet soil to maintain its pliability. An Unangax̂ artist transformed wild rye (beach) grass into a basket so finely and tightly woven that it looks like linen.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1950; Estate of Mrs. Edward C. True
American Wing Rotations 2023
American Wing Rotations 2024
American Wing Rotations 2025
Maurer, Evan M, The Native American Heritage : a Survey of North American Indian Art : the Art Institute of Chicago, July 16-October 30, 1977 : [exhibition catalogue],
Chicago : The Institute, c1977, ill 549.
Sotheby's, "American Indian, African, and Oceanic Art, " New York, April 29-30, 1983, ill 171.
Sotheby's, "Fine American Indian Art, " New York, October 25-26, 1984, ill 382-4.
Strutevant, William, ed., "Handbook of North American Indians," Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984, vol 5 "Arctic," p 168-9, ill b.
Sotheby's, "Fine American Indian Art, " New York, June 21-22, 1985, ill 100.
Sotheby's, "Important American Indian Art, " New York, May 30, 1986, ill 182.
Fitzhurgh, William W. and Aron Crowell, "Crossroads of Continents" Cultures of Siberia and Alaska, " Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988, p 56, ill 57.
Sotheby's, "Important American Indian Art, " New York, December 2, 1998, sale 7228, p 225, ill 485-7.
Sotheby's, "Important American Indian Art Including The Lucille and Marshall Miller Collection, " New York, November 30, 1999, sale 7398, ill 274.
Christie's, Tribal Art," Amsterdam, December 6, 1999, sale Tunis-2443, p 34, ill 133.
Chicago : The Institute, c1977, ill 549.
Sotheby's, "American Indian, African, and Oceanic Art, " New York, April 29-30, 1983, ill 171.
Sotheby's, "Fine American Indian Art, " New York, October 25-26, 1984, ill 382-4.
Strutevant, William, ed., "Handbook of North American Indians," Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984, vol 5 "Arctic," p 168-9, ill b.
Sotheby's, "Fine American Indian Art, " New York, June 21-22, 1985, ill 100.
Sotheby's, "Important American Indian Art, " New York, May 30, 1986, ill 182.
Fitzhurgh, William W. and Aron Crowell, "Crossroads of Continents" Cultures of Siberia and Alaska, " Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1988, p 56, ill 57.
Sotheby's, "Important American Indian Art, " New York, December 2, 1998, sale 7228, p 225, ill 485-7.
Sotheby's, "Important American Indian Art Including The Lucille and Marshall Miller Collection, " New York, November 30, 1999, sale 7398, ill 274.
Christie's, Tribal Art," Amsterdam, December 6, 1999, sale Tunis-2443, p 34, ill 133.
On View at the BMA
