Frank Gaydos on sun 2 jan 00
If you are in the Philly area in the next nine months be sure to stop =
at
the University Museum to see this superb show of Pomo Indian Baskets, =
thought to
be the apex of basket making.
The glory of Pomo basketry: Pure form and precise work
The Pomo Indians of northern California aren't a large and prominent
Native American cultural group, like the Sioux or the Navajo. They don't =
operate
casinos nor, like the various Plains tribes, have they been romanticized in
films.
But the Pomo, a confederation of more than 70 tribes and village
communities, make baskets - the most beautiful and superbly crafted objects =
of
their kind one is likely to see. And that makes the Pomo special.
The Pomo have been known for the baskets for more than a century. From
1890 to about 1930, basket-making was a major source of income for the =
tribes,
until the advent of the Great Depression killed the market.
By then, many of the most skilled basket-weavers had died, a large =
number
at a relatively young age, from diseases such as tuberculosis for which the
Indians lacked immunity.
But while the Golden Age of Pomo basketry is well behind us, it hasn't
been forgotten, especially in Philadelphia.
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology =
owns
a substantial collection of Pomo baskets that it acquired earlier in the
century. Three Philadelphians - two collectors and a dealer - made this
exceptional collection possible.
The collectors were Henry K. Deisher and Patty Stuart Jewett=3B the =
dealer
was Grace Nicholson. Deisher, who manufactured women's underwear, collected =
more
than 400 baskets between 1903 and 1907, when Pomo =22basket fever=22 was =
red-hot.
Financial reverses forced him to sell his collection in 1915. He sold it to =
the
museum at a loss so that he could continue to visit the collection.
Jewett bought most of her baskets from Nicholson, a Pasadena, Calif.,
dealer who was active in the Pomo basket trade. After Jewett died of =
pneumonia,
her husband donated her collection to the university museum.
The glories of Pomo basketry have rarely been so manifest as they are =
in
an exhibition of 120 examples that continues at the University Museum for =
the
next nine months.
The show has been drawn mainly from the museum's collection, =
supplemented
by loans from several art and natural-history museums. While it is a show =
about
baskets made as art objects, it also places these objects within a broad =
social
and economic context.
This context has several facets. For instance, it documents how the =
Pomo
tribes, like those of the Southwest, responded to the collision with white,
European-based culture - by developing their indigenous arts and craft forms
commercially.
The rise of the Pomo basket market also serves as a model of how =
commerce,
in the person of dealers and collectors, can stimulate the evolution of an =
art
form. When white buyers became infatuated with Pomo baskets, the weavers =
adapted
their designs and techniques to produce forms that were more readily =
accepted as
=22art=22 rather than as utilitarian things.
Through its extensive label panels, the exhibition also indicates how =
the
lives of the various participants in the basket trade interacted and how the
craft was eventually damaged by forces beyond the control of the artisans.
Besides the Depression, which reduced patronage, these forces included
land development, which continues to restrict access to raw materials.
The sociological and historical imperatives are interesting by =
themselves
but are not what make this exhibition special. These baskets represent an
exemplary standard of artisanship that compares favorably with anything =
produced
by metalworkers, potters and weavers in more industrialized societies.
The various Pomo communities had been making baskets for centuries =
before
the first Europeans arrived in their territory, near the Pacific coast north=
of
San Francisco, in the early 1800s.
They had developed more than 20 types of baskets, mainly for =
functional
uses such as hauling, storage, preparing and serving food, and trapping fish=
and
birds.
Most of these were constructed by interlacing, or =22twining,=22 a =
technique
analogous to a textile weave. Some were made by coiling plant materials =
wrapped
in tight bundles, a process similar to making ceramic pots from long ropes =
of
clay.
As white settlers came to admire Pomo virtuosity, the weavers shifted
their production toward decorative baskets made by coiling and sometimes
embellishing with shell ornaments and colorful bird feathers.
The weavers continued to use traditional raw materials - mainly willow
shoots, bulrush, sedge and redbud twigs, all of which had to be cultivated,
laboriously prepared, sorted by size, and seasoned before use.
Decorative =22trade=22 baskets dominate the exhibition, and some are =
quite
fancy. One of the more spectacular is a round =22sun basket=22 (named for =
its color
and shape) covered with red woodpecker feathers, fringed with black quail
feathers, and festooned with 300 pieces of wampum and 32 pieces of abalone.
(Magnificent the piece may be, but one can only despair at the number =
of
birds killed to make it - according to the object label, 250 quail and 223
woodpeckers.)
Feathered baskets generally are smaller than typical baskets and, like=
the
feathered textiles made by other neolithic cultures, are undeniably =
dazzling.
But extravagance isn't what set Pomo baskets apart from other baskets.
Nor is it the woven decoration, which usually consists of abstracted =
and
quasi-geometric motifs such as strings of triangles that run across or =
around
the surface.
As the exhibition demonstrates many times over, Pomo baskets are =
defined
by purity of form and absolute precision of construction.
Susan Billy, a prominent contemporary Pomo weaver, once recalled as a
child seeing four small baskets made by her grandmother.
=22I couldn't tell by looking at them how they came to be,=22 she =
said. =22They
were so perfect. I couldn't see a knot on them anywhere.=22
Therein lies the appeal of these baskets. Not only are the forms
beautifully proportioned, but the craftsmanship is so exquisite - and so =
perfect
- that the baskets seem almost superhuman.
This level of achievement translates into weeks and months of labor. =
One
large basket in the form of a boat hull and decorated with small shell disks
took three years to make.
Such dedication to a craft in which excellence is defined in part by
patience, stamina and the ability to repeat simple actions consistently is =
every
bit as admirable as any other artisanal skill imaginable.
The installation of baskets by 47 weavers is organized by families to =
show
how stylistic characteristics were passed along, usually from mother to
daughter. Although individual traits can be recognized, one is more =
impressed by
the way a high level of craftsmanship was maintained across several =
generations.
Pomo artisans continue to work, though not in the numbers they once =
did.
The exhibition includes a brief video that shows how today's weavers gather =
and
prepare traditional plant materials. It suggests that, like pottery,
basket-making is as close to an elemental and timeless art form as we're =
ever
likely to encounter.
If You Go
=22Pomo Indian Basket Weavers, Their Baskets and the Art Market=22 =
continues
at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, =
33d
and Spruce Streets, through Oct. 1. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 =
p.m.
Tuesdays through Saturdays and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Closed holidays.
Admission is =245 general, =242.50 for senior citizens and students with ID.
Telephone: 215-898-4000. Web address: www.upenn.edu/museum
Frank Gaydos
510 Gerritt St.
Philadelphia, Pa.
19147-5821 USA
http://home.earthlink.net/=7Efgaydos/
Vince Pitelka on tue 4 jan 00
> The Pomo Indians of northern California aren't a large and prominent
>Native American cultural group, like the Sioux or the Navajo. They don't
operate
>casinos nor, like the various Plains tribes, have they been romanticized in
>films.
Frank -
You are absolutely right about the beauty of the Pomo baskets. But not
about the casinos, unfortunately. The Pomo do operate a casino, which is
expanding very quickly. It is located in a big circus tent in Redwood
Valley, CA, just north of Ukiah.
As an aside, I have always admired California Indian basktes, and back in
the early 1970s I had an experience that is a heartbreaker to think back on
now. My wife and were living in Blue Lake, CA, in Humboldt County, in the
northwest corner of the state. In the early 1970s we had a friend named
Charley who was working on a big lily bulb farm in Smith River, just north
of Crescent City, CA, and south of Brookings Oregon. A big group of us from
Humboldt went up there for a picnic one time, and late in the afternoon
Charley took me aside and we snuck around back through the woods to the old
abandoned ranch home. The current patriarch of the farm had built a nice
home nearby about 20 years before, and the sons were all living in big
double-wide trailers scattered around the place. The old Victorian ranch
home was left to ruin. It had been a spectacular Victorian mansion, and
still contained gorgeous antiques, pottery, pictures on the walls, etc.
Many of the windows were broken out, leaks in the roof, floors buckled,
plaster cracking and falling from the walls and ceiling. The family had
recently been been keeping their hunting dogs in the kitchen and dining
room. On the walls of the dining room was an extensive collection of old
Indian baskets which had been gathered by the founder of the ranch before
the turn of the century. He apparently did not instill an appreciation of
Indian baskets or antiques in his sons or grandsons. The dogs had dragged
down all the baskets they could reach, and had chewed them to pieces. The
ones barely within their grasp were shredded. The ones out of their grasp
were still there, but covered with mildew and bird droppings. I wanted to
rescue some of the baskets, but Charlie made it clear that if we touched one
thing, he would risk loosing his job, and the owners would certainly call
the cops. As I understand it, local historians and collectors had tried to
reason with the family, to no avail. They were a selfish, obstinate family.
Charlie was breaking strict rules by even taking me to see the old place, so
we just wallked away from it. Charlie moved on to another ranch job soon
after that, and I have no idea what ever happened to the baskets.
A nice cheerful story to start the New Year. Best wishes to all -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
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