H16.2847
(12.70 cm HIGH)
Basket, covered with red & blue feathers. Pendants of glass beads & abalone shell row of shell wampum, & row of quail tips around border. Type called "Sun Basket" "Very good example of this type of basket. Valley quail topknots, acorn woodpecker scalp feathers, western bluebird feathers, variety of glass beads, most appear to be Italian. Feathered "V" on interior is unique - I've not seen it before." (Craig Bates, 8/91) "Pomo feather basket from Tom Johnson at Calistoga." (Craig Bates correspondence, 8/12/91. Documentation project files). From the History Information Station: "Object: Basket made of sedge root by three-rod coiling. It is decorated with acorn woodpecker scalp feathers, western bluebird feathers, quail topknots, and clam shell disk bead pendants. It was collected among the Pomo of Calistoga, Napa County, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It was acquired by C.P. Wilcomb, founding curator of the Oakland Public Museum, circa 1910. History: Elegant feathered baskets like this one are made as a mark of wealth and prestige. Feathered baskets were never used, but were given as gifts to important people, or on special occasions such as a marriage. They were also used as funerary offerings and were cremated along with the deceased at the time of death, and at the mourning ceremony a year later."
