Basket

Label

Weavers have continued to play an important role in Ndee (Western Apache) tribes, and in the late 19th century they began to increasingly share their art with outside markets. Though this basket was most likely made for sale, this style of shallow tray was intended for food preparation like winnowing grain. Ndee weavers developed a distinct style that combines geometric patterns and figurative elements like the animals on this basket. These patterns consist of light-colored willow and dark brown devil’s claw, a tough plant that requires great depth of knowledge and technique to transform into a basket.

From the 2026 exhibition Nurturing Nationhood: Artistic Constructions of America, 1790-1940, curated by Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow), Michael Hartman (former Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), and Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collection

Exhibition History

Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 8, 2011-March 12, 2012.

Nurturing Nationhood: Artistic Constructions of America, 1790-1940, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; February 7-August 29, 2026.

Publication History

George P. Horse Capture, Sr., Joe D. Horse Capture, Joseph M. Sanchez, et al., Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2011, ill. on p. 103 and p. 155, no. 78.

Provenance

Robert T. Emery (1918-2005), Lebanon, New Hampshire; sold to present collection, 1951.

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