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Three-rod coiled negative basket

Big Valley Pomo (Lake County, California)

Not on view


The usual color scheme of Pomo basketry is reversed in this elegant "negative" basket, in which the maker utilized dyed bulrush roots to create a black background. Negative baskets took longer to produce and required greater skill, because bulrush roots are more difficult to source, harvest, and weave than the more commonly used golden-colored sedge roots.

Three-rod coiled negative basket, Willow shoot foundation, sedge root weft, dyed bulrush root weft, feathers (California valley quail topknots), clamshell disk beads, and cotton string, Big Valley Pomo (Lake County, California)

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