Nez Perce Cornhusk Bag - SOLD

Idaho

Circa 1900

Height 14 1/2" Width 20"

Provenance: Private collection, New York NY

Seasonal moves to river fishing camps, root gathering fields, mountain berry patches, and winter villages present the problem of transporting and storing food and personal belongings. On the Columbia Plateau, soft twined bags like these were essential for native peoples like the Nez Perce, Yakama, Umatilla, and others. Because of the labor and skill involved in their construction and design, and the beauty of the finished pieces, these baskets were prized possessions, passed on from tribe to tribe, family to family, and from one generation to the next.

Usually twined from the peeled, cured, and hand-spun fibers of dogbane or silkweed (Apocynum cannabinum), the bags were decorated with contrasting-colored plant fibers. As Euro-Americans began to settle in the region, new materials became available. As early as the 1830s, husks of corn were used as decorative overlay and worsted wool yarn was probably introduced in the 1880s, along with aniline dyes to expand the available range of colors. The two examples on offer here are without a doubt the best of the art form and date to around 1900.