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Basket bowl

1907
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 746
Great Basin peoples revered the unique semi-desert landscape between the Rocky and the Sierra Nevada Mountains by producing practical containers out of the diverse grasses found there. Datsolalee was a pioneer of basket weaving at the turn of the twentieth century. She is known for departing from traditional Washoe forms and imagery by creating iconic monumental containers with syncopated patterns, such as this one with offset rows of flame motifs. The dark fern root fibers contrast with the redbud shoots and the willow background to create a striking visual experience. Using the coiling technique with such materials, she infused an everyday object with extraordinary beauty.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Basket bowl
  • Artist: Louisa Keyser (Washoe, ca. 1831-1925)
  • Date: 1907
  • Geography: Made in Carson City, Nevada, United States
  • Culture: Washoe, Native American
  • Medium: Willow and redbud shoots, bracken root, and dye
  • Dimensions: 12 1/2 × 16 5/8 in. (31.8 × 42.2 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Charles and Valerie Diker, 2021
  • Object Number: 2021.434.3
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Beacon Lights, Louisa Keyser Washoe, Willow, western redbud, bracken fern root, Washoe
Returned to lender
Beacon Lights
Louisa Keyser
July 1, 1904–September 6, 1905
Basket bowl, Carrie Bethel Mono Lake Paiute, Willow shoots, sedge root, redbud shoots, and dyed bracken root, Mono Lake Paiute, Native American
On loan to The Met
Basket bowl
Carrie Bethel
1929
Plain-twined bowl, Willow shoot foundation, sedge root weft, and redbud shoot weft, Pomo artist (Northern California)
Plain-twined bowl
Pomo artist (Northern California)
ca. 1915
Cooking-on-Saturday, Leslie Garland Bolling American, Yellow-poplar, American
Cooking-on-Saturday
Leslie Garland Bolling
1936
Print Table, Frank Lloyd Wright American, White oak, American
Print Table
Frank Lloyd Wright
William E. Nemmers
1902–3

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