There are three side views of this basket. A small screwdriver was placed on the inside to keep track of and mark the turning of the basket. No cowries are missing. Strong side lighting sometimes create dark shadows near the middle. Top and bottom views show the extent of the leather added. Some of the inside views show how the basketry is done and how the cowries are stitched on.
Photographs © Hamill Gallery
YORUBA
COWRIE BASKET 11
10" high x 10" wide
$150
SOLD
This Yoruba cowrie covered basket could have been made to be sold.
The leather covering the top rim is worn. The weight of the cowries makes the sides sag when the basket is on its side in the last two pictures.
Like beads, small cowrie shells were often used as currency and were signs of wealth and status. Many Yoruba sacred and secular objects were embellished with elaborate borders or arrangements of cowrie shells. Here they are used to decorate a woven basket.
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