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Maidu Tribal Hand Woven Gambling Tray c. 1880's

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,800.00 USD Estimated At:5,500.00 - 6,500.00 USD
Maidu Tribal Hand Woven Gambling Tray c. 1880's
Featured in this lot is this Maidu tribal hand woven gambling tray circa 1880's. The basket is wonderfully and professionally crafted Bracken Fern Root and Rosebud and shows very tightly woven wefts and a herringbone woven rim. The basket gambling tray features bands of red with black diamonds shown throughout; there are two bands shown on the basket and shows a wide and flat profile. The Maidu are a Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather and American rivers. They also reside in Humbug Valley. In Maiduan languages, Maidu means "man." The Maidu were exemplary basket weavers, weaving highly detailed and useful baskets in sizes ranging from thimble-sized to huge ones ten or more feet in diameter. The stitches on some of these baskets are so fine that you need a magnifying glass to see them. In addition to closely woven, watertight baskets for cooking, they made large storage baskets, bowls, shallow trays, traps, cradles, hats and seed beaters. The condition of this Maidu gambling tray is good with no obvious signs of damage and shows good overall condition. The measurements of this Maidu gambling tray is 1" x 19 1/4" x 19 1/2". Provenance: From the renowned Sundog Fine Art Bozeman, Montana collection and collected by Bruce VanLandingham. Bruce VanLandingham was a pillar in the American Indian collecting community and a respected expert. Along with being an avid collector, Bruce also was the sole owner of Sundog Fine Art Gallery in Bozeman, which was both part museum and gallery.