$2,500.00
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ca. 1890
5.125" H x 16.5" D
Hand Woven with Darker Geometric Design Surrounding Outside with the Inside Bottom Open
In Very Good Condition
The basketry hopper was placed or affixed to the top of a stone mortar bowl, sometime sealed to the stone bowls rim with pine pitch, and was used to keep the flour from spilling out of the mortar from the heavy pounding of the pestle. The acorn meal was cooked in basketry bowl filled with water by placing and hot stones into the mush filled basket. As the stones cooled, they were removed, put back into the fire, and more hot stones were added. They were stirred to keep them from burning the bottom of the basket.”
The Hupa hopper basket is a traditional utilitarian basket woven by the Hupa (Hoopa) people, an Indigenous tribe from the Hoopa Valley in northwestern California along the Trinity River. The Hupa are part of the Athabascan language group and have deep cultural ties to neighboring tribes like the Yurok and Karok, sharing similar basketry techniques and materials. Hopper baskets are specialized tools integral to the Hupa's traditional food processing, particularly in preparing acorn flour—a staple in their diet.
Provenance: From the Len and Toni Wood Private Collection, Laguna Beach, California
Condition:
Very Good
Tribe:
Hupa - Karok - Yurok - Whilkut
Year Range:
1875 - 1900
Region:
Southwest
Dimensions:
5.13 in16.5 in
Category:
Basket - Hopper
