In 1958 the U. S. Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., rated this basket as probably the finest specimen of basketry ever produced.
During her lifetime, Datsolalee made only forty-six large scale baskets. During the summer months she could often be found at the resort area of Lake Tahoe, California, weaving miniature basketry which she sold to tourists for small sums. In 1914, Mrs. Henrietta K. Burton, from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., visited the artist’s home in Carson City, Nevada. Mrs. Burton made numerous photographs of Datsolalee and her baskets for use in federal publications which dealt with Indian basketry. Since that time these photos have appeared in many other basketry publications.
Due to the artist’s reputation and ability, as well as the artistry and craftsmanship of this specimen it is valued at $2000. It is doubtful such a basket could ever again be produced—no weaver today shows ability such as that of Datsolalee. Her baskets are sought by collectors throughout the world.
In 1914, G. A. Steiner, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, purchased the finest basket the artist had produced up to that time. It is forty-nine inches in circumference and has more than eighty thousand stitches. It was purchased for $1950, and added to the Carnegie Library Collection in Pittsburgh (this was the highest price ever paid for a single Indian basket).
Philbrook’s Datsolalee basket has received international recognition. It may be seen, in color, in Indian Art in America, by Frederick J. Dockstader (New York Graphic Society, 1960) and in the magazine America (No. 67) which was distributed by the U. S. Information Agency and printed in Russian. (See [Plate 17a])
UTILITARIAN—HISTORICAL
c. 1835
Pennacook—Northern Massachusetts
Case No. 4:
This basket is made of ash splints and is white on the interior. The exterior is decorated with designs painted in native dyes using a swabbing stick which has been pounded at one end to form a brush.
This earliest known type of painted-on decoration ceased about 1870. An approximate dating for this specimen can be established from an April 2, 1835, copy of the Boston Daily Courier, which lines the basket lid. (See [Plate 2d])