Description:
Woven raffia basket with a flared, incurving rim in light brown and a scene of the "Old Indian House" and a tall elm tree done in medium and dark browns in front, and a diamond-shaped weaving pattern in the interior of the basket. This scene is based on a 1848 painting of house shortly before its demolition, which was done by George Washington Mark (1795-1879) of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and is now in the PVMA collection. According to a note in the file, the donor said that the history of the basket was: "My grandfather's mother had a sister who married a Williams, they had a daughter named Abigail Williams, she married a sea captain named Waterbury - she inherited the basket from her father, she was my grandfathers (William Hoyt) first cousin, my mother was left the basket when her father died and I inherited the basket from my mother. The basket -- over 200 years old, was made by Eunice Williams, who was captured at the sack of Deerfield, Mass, in 1704. Eunice was raised by a Canadian Indian family, the design is her memory of the house from which she was taken." However, based on research done by Suzanne Flynt, Curator of PVMA, we know that the basket was made by Sarah Cowles (1845-1922). Born in North Hadley, Massachusetts, Sarah Ward Russell married Edward Clark Cowles (1844-1909) in 1868. Sarah Cowles bought the Ebenezer and Anna Williams on Main Street house in Deerfield in 1896 where she lived until her death; her obituary reads that “She had been for many years a member of the Deerfield Arts and Crafts society and had made many artistic baskets.” A member of the Pocumtuck Basket Makers, Mrs. Cowles was one of a number of women who was swept up by the William Morris craze for making handmade goods. Founded in 1902 by Madeline Yale Wynne (1847-1918), the group made baskets principally of raffia, a product of Madagascar, and used natural dyes to color their work. Wynne chose the name Pocumtuck to reference the Native Americans who first lived in Deerfield. This basket and two others, one with a picture of the old brick church by Gertrude Porter Ashely (Mrs. Charles Ashley) (1858-1936) and one with a day and night scene by Madeline Yale Wynn, were shown together at the seconc annual Deerfield Arts and Crafts show in 1903, which was described in a front page article in the "Greenfield Recorder" on July 29, 1903.
Label Text:
Sarah Cowles, a member of the Pocumtuck Basket Makers, demonstrated great skill in weaving an image of Deerfield’s iconic c. 1699 Old Indian House in her basket. Mrs. Cowles was one of a number of women who was swept up by the William Morris craze for making handmade goods. Founded in 1902 by Madeline Yale Wynne, the group made baskets principally of raffia, a product of Madagascar, and used natural dyes to color their work. Wynne chose the name Pocumtuck to reference the Native Americans who first lived in Deerfield.
The idea of weaving “pictures” in raffia was first introduced in Deerfield at the second annual show of arts and crafts, July 1903. Two other skilled craftswomen exhibited “picture” baskets with Sarah Cowles that summer; Madeline Yale Wynne wove “a day and night scene” while Gertrude Ashley’s basket featured the “old brick church.”
Tags:
indigenous people Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+71.043 |
