Havasupai Small Piñon Pitch Covered Tus [SOLD]

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Once Known Native American Weaver
  • Category: Ollas or Jars
  • Origin: Havasupai
  • Medium: willow, yucca, piñon pitch
  • Size: 6-1/4” tall x 6-1/2” diameter
  • Item # C3579F
  • SOLD

By 1950, Havasupai basket making had declined drastically from where it was in the early 1900s, not only in the production of utility ware, but also in the making of coiled ware.  Apparently there were only about six weavers at the time.  A revival began occurring in the late 1960s and into the 1970s and a class was organized to teach the women how to weave basketsresulting in some of the finest weavers of the 1970s.  Old forms were revived such as water bottles (tus) and parching trays, and lost techniques, such as use of natural dyes, were reinstated.  Unfortunately, only older women showed interest in learning the techniques of basket making and younger women shied away from such.  (Tanner, 1983, 186)

 

Baskets called tus were generally made for storage of water.  To make them waterproof, a corncob would be rubbed over the surface to fill the interstices before soap weed paste and red paint were applied and then piñon pitch was spread over the surface for final waterproofing.  Often horsehair was woven and inserted as a loop handle. 

 

This bottle is a typical tus, used by Apache, Navajo and Havasupai, and it is often difficult to determine the tribal origin of one.  The rim on this one is our clue to assigning the origin as Havasupai.

 

Condition:  This tus is structurally in excellent condition but has lost most of its piñon pitch.  The braided horsehair handle has separated into two pieces.

Provenance: from a member of the Balcomb family

Reference: Indian Baskets of the Southwest by Clara Lee Tanner, University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 1983.  This book is currently not available from Adobe Gallery.

Once Known Native American Weaver
  • Category: Ollas or Jars
  • Origin: Havasupai
  • Medium: willow, yucca, piñon pitch
  • Size: 6-1/4” tall x 6-1/2” diameter
  • Item # C3579F
  • SOLD

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