Maliseet Porcupine Stitch Baskets with Lid Pair of 2

Mid 20th Century

(A) 4.5" H x 7" D (B) 4.125" H x 5.5" D

Native Americans of Maine located in Sipayik (A) Hand Crafted with Natural Color with Decorative Folded Petal-like Points Around the Top Rim of the Lid and the Base with a Loop Handle on a Pedestal (B) Hand Crafted with a Golden Tan Field and a Matching Lid with Decorative Folded Petal-like Points Around the Center of the Lid with a Loop Handle 

In Very Good Condition 

Penobscot Basketry; The Penobscot are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region, specifically Maine, and int the Atlantic provinces and Quebec, Canada. Their basketry is typically of split ash splints and sweet grass. Many have The Porcupine Weave. A porcupine weave is made by folding and pinching the splints so that they created spiky points to make the basket appear more fancy.

Native American basketry in Maine is an ancient, continuous art form crafted by the Wabanaki Confederacy, which includes the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Micmac (Mi'kmaq), and Maliseet nations. According to Wabanaki creation oral history, the culture hero Gluskabe shot an arrow into the heart of a brown ash tree, and from the split bark stepped the "People of the Dawn". For thousands of years, these communities have used the natural resources of Maine's wetlands and coasts to create structurally resilient, intricately designed vessels.