Hand Woven Coil Basket 2 Attributed to Philippines or Basket Fraternity - C 1910

Description

This great coil style Indian design basket has two attributions, "The Basket Fraternity" or someone in the Philippines. It is all intact with no rips or holes.
It is hand made from a material that has an appearance of a very fine, round cord/twine - due to the time period believed to be of natural fibers.
It is very, very sturdy, not at all squash-able. In photo #4 at the bottom area of the basket you can see a darker tone to the color. I don't know if this is an actual stain or off color in the material. The top rim measures approx. 3  3/8" in dia., the widest portion of the bulge is 5 1/2" and the basket stands just a bit over 3  7/8" tall. We acquired this basket in Pasadena from a dealer in approx. 1985. My partner recently sent his Native American basket collection to auction. The auction house expert for Native American items said this was not Indian made and attributed it to G.W. James' basket fraternity (see below). The second attribution is due to  an auction listing. We have printed out info and some of the photos from the auction and will provide these with purchase if requested. The two baskets in the auction were made by a 15 yr. old school student under the supervision of the Bureau Of Education Manila and displayed (possibly also purchased) at the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.
Basket collecting had become a huge hobby around the turn of the century (1900) These collectors could be found all across the US. Dealers advertised as well as creating catalogues for woven basket type items for sale. "There are a number of fine basket makers in Kern County, California wrote George Wharton James" in 1903. His interest in the creation of woven items caused Mr. James to start "The Basket Fraternity" (headquarters in Pasadena, California). A quarterly issued magazine entitled "The Basket" "The Journal Of The Basket Fraternity Or Lovers Of Indian Baskets And Other Good Things". You would received 4 issues per year for the membership fee of .00. It contained ad's for materials and finished products, articles and photos as well in some issues how to make Indian or other baskets as well as some locations for lessons. I found the July 1903 issue on line at survivorlibrary.com, it was very interesting.  From what I can see in the copy it appeared to have a 17 point mission statement. The introduction and items 1-8 were obstructed by a library slip. There was an organized "traveling library" of typical Indian baskets that was available to be sent to your group if it met certain requirements (#9). There was also a lecture with slide presentation available on loan to a fraternity member for a fee (#11).  Lectures and lessons on basketry is mentioned in #'s 15 & 16. The last issue appears to be Oct. of 1904 per the Penn Museum.
I ship on Tues & Fri. due to my husbands health