WESTERN APACHE BURDEN BASKET - B1014

View Details Western Apache Polychrome Burden Basket CA 1880 Western Apache polychrome burden basket woven in a twined technique in cottonwood or willow. The burden basket was used by the Apache women for carrying; either when moving from camp to camp, gathering firewood, or returning from a trip to the trading post. The basket was worn on the back with the tump line across the forehead to bear the weight of the burden. Burden baskets were and are also used in the Sunrise Ceremony, marking a young girls passage into womanhood. They are filled with gifts and food for the child's godmother and also are used to mark the course of the young girl's race, a part of the ceremony during which the young girl must run Eastward at dawn, a supplication to the sun to instill in the young girl the same vitality as it does with all living things. This burden basket is a beautiful example. The design features four "bands", the two middle band being the widest formed by alternating diagonals in red and black. The band at bottom is a simple ring of red, very faded. The band at top is a simple ring of black. The basket is decorated with four narrow strips of buckskin running vertically the length of the basket. These strips are fringed at the top and bottom with long buckskin thongs terminating in tin cone dangles. The bottom of the basket is its most beautiful and interesting feature with a round piece of fringed buckskin sewn over a piece red stroud. An inner ring of small round circles has been cut through the buckskin which shows the red stroud beneath. The basket measures approximately 11 1/4 inches at the widest diameter and is 10 1/2 inches tall. ONE ONLY! Please reference Sku # 990901014   SKU: B1014 Price: $2,500.00 Quantity 1  Add to cart

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