Dealers and Collectors of Indian Baskets at the Turn of the Century in California: Their Effect on the Ethnographic Sample

Abstract

The basket collecting activities of dealers and amateurs between the 1860's and the 1920's in California is described. Four phases are defined: initial purchase by dealers of old traditional baskets; production of baskets in the form of white containers by Indians; height of basket buying “craze”; Indian response to expanded market with new copies of old baskets. Interviews with weavers, comments of collectors, and practices of dealers all indicate that baskets made for sale have different design compositions than those made for Indian use. Definition of these non-Indian factors for design change will assist in appropriate use of museum specimens collected during this same period for a subsequent study of the changes in design structure.