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Miniature Basket
1.9 cm high x 2.5 cm diameter
This little
basket is no bigger than a quarter. The maker wove it
in a honeycomb pattern. Maine Indian baskets in this
style are quite rare. It is even more rare to know the
history of such a unique piece.
Mrs. Ruel Kimball donated
it to the Abbe Museum in 1929 and recounted its remarkable
history. Mrs. Kimball’s grandaunt was Eliza
Eaton. She, in turn, was the granddaughter of Captain
Park Holland, Revolutionary War soldier and early
surveyor of the Penobscot River. Captain Holland moved
his family to Eddington (a town on the east side of
the river north of Bangor) in 1801. For several years,
he was the Indian agent to the Penobscot Tribe. This
basket was a gift from a tribal member to his daughter
Eliza Holland, who died in 1818, or to his granddaughter
Eliza Eaton, born in 1816.
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