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Lidded Cobra Basket with French Knots

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@ National Museum of African American History and Culture

Description

A coiled sweetgrass basket made by Mary A. Jackson. The basket has a flat, circular bottom and tall, round sides that widen as they extend from the base. The widest part of the body is about three quarters from the bottom. The basket then narrows again to form a circular opening with a straight, shallow lip that is the narrowest part of the basket. At the bottom, the body features a narrow band of darker-colored pine needles set in between two similar-sized bands of lighter-colored sweetgrass. The widest part of the body features a wide band of pine needles, ending slightly below the lip. The removable, circular lid has a rim that extends down to fit over the lip of the basket and a hole at the very top center. Most of the lid is sewn with pine needles, with only a very narrow band of plain sweetgrass towards the center. Around this lighter-colored band are six French knots of pine needles.
Format:
Sweetgrass, Pine Needles, Palmetto Fronds, Bulrush
Rights:
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Juliette Bethea in memory of Flora Wilson Bethea
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Record Contributed By

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution