Object Details
Maker
Tswana artist
Label Text
In southern Africa, women weavers produce a variety of well-constructed baskets of fibrous tree root or palm-leaf fiber using coiling, twining or plaiting techniques. Large, tightly coiled baskets such as this are usually constructed with palm fiber. The weaver binds thin, pliable weft strands of palm firmly and evenly around the warp, which consists of bundles of fibers. She then coils the warp in a counterclockwise direction to the required depth, beginning at the base.
Using an overstitch technique to sew the coils together, and at the same time working with tinted strands in the weft, the weaver creates darker designs in the basket, working upward from the base to the rim.
Description
Cylindrical fiber coiled basket decorated with a geometric pattern consisting of diagonal rows of lozenges divided through the center by double lines.
Provenance
Michael Graham-Stewart, London, -- to 1989
Exhibition History
Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
Published References
National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 168, no. 124.
Content Statement
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Credit Line
Museum purchase
Date
Late 20th century
Object number
89-9-1
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Textile and Fiber Arts
Medium
Plant fiber, dye
Dimensions
H x W x D: 38.8 x 37.6 x 37.5 cm (15 1/4 x 14 13/16 x 14 3/4 in.)
Geography
Botswana
See more items in
National Museum of African Art Collection
Data Source
National Museum of African Art
Topic
Household
geometric motif
male
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmafa_89-9-1