Akimel O’odham (Pima) Basket with 5-star Design Pattern [SOLD]

The Akimel O’odham (River People—Pima) were major basket makers in the late 19th century, primarily making them for their own use. At the turn of the following century, basket weaving was being practiced in every home. This continued into the early 20th century, at which time Southwest Indian basketry became a collectible commodity. The problem was that the collectors and dealers only paid $1.00 to $3.00 for a basket. The women soon realized that it was not practical to spend weeks making a basket when they could pick cotton and earn $2.00 a day.

By the 1920s, basket weaving all but disappeared. By 1960, they were not even making baskets for their own use. They had, by then, substituted commercially made pots and pans for utilitarian use.

This size basketry tray was made not for use by the maker but made for sale to a tourist or collector.  Small baskets of this style were not functional for Native use.

Design layouts on Pima trays is always dependent on the black center from which the resulting design radiates outward, in this event it radiates to a five-point star.

“Pimas produced some of the most beautiful close-coiled baskets in the Southwest.  Certainly some of their vessel forms were the most graceful of any, this quality particularly to be noted in the delicate lines of many a tray.  Add to this the fine sewing and thin lines, dynamic patterning so characteristic of many pieces, and there, indeed, is a work of art.” Tanner, 1983

Condition: excellent condition

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.