The Abbe Museum thanks the Davis Family Foundation, who sponsored this exhibit.
For more information on the Davis Family Foundation, visit their web site.
Would your business like to sponsor a future exhibit? Contact Hannah Whalen at (207) 288-3519 x 15 or hannah@abbemuseum.org.
This basket is one of more than 60 that will be on display.
This exhibition of some 60 baskets includes examples from over 40 North American tribes of bowls, burden baskets, fancy baskets, baby baskets, bags, trays, hats, miniatures, and gathering baskets. Each weaver – most of whom were women – was influenced by her tribe’s weaving tradition as well as the locally available weaving and dying materials. Thus, woven objects are expressive of both the weaver’s personal identity and cultural affiliation. Although most basket forms are utilitarian, many of these works were clearly intended to provide aesthetic pleasure with their elegant forms, complex decoration, and intricate weaves.
The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art was founded in 1923 with a gift of some 500 Native American and international baskets. In the last eight decades, the Museum has added to the original gift, resulting in one of the most important Native American basketry collections in the Southeast. Eighty basket-making North American tribes are represented in the LRMA collection, with works spanning from the 18th century to the present.