The Museum recently acquired a collection of 19th and 20th century Mahican and Mohawk baskets. The baskets range in size and decoration, from miniature baskets to large gathering baskets, fancy baskets with curlicues, and baskets with stamped and dyed splints in indigo and yellow colors.
This acquisition adds baskets to the Native American ethnography collection from time periods that were not previously well represented, including the 1960s and 1970s. Three of the baskets are attributed to basketmakers Mariam Lee, Effie Cornplanter, and Nettie Watt. This collection of baskets will help Museum curators and researchers better understand the symbolic language of basket designs and the nuances in technique and aesthetics that are sometimes shared between basketmakers across ethnic groups and geographic areas.
