California
Northwestern Region

Vegetal fiber- perhaps sedge root or bracken, and willow; feathers
ca. 1986 A.D.
Height: 2.2.5 in; Diameter: 4.25 in 
Ritual Symbolism

A hand-made Feathered Coiled Basket by Elsia Allen (Native American, Pomo, 1899-1990).  This coiled and twined basketry is made from regional plants – sedge grass, fern root, willow, and/or bracken- and then covered with white and iridescent orange-red feathers.  Allen used both native and non-native birds on her pieces in later years, such as these pheasant feathers.

Elsie Allen was a celebrated Californian basket weaver, often accredited with saving and sustaining Pomo basketry weaving tradition. A catalog for an Elsie Allen exhibition by Suzanne Abel-Vidor was published by the Grace Hudson Museum, City of Ukiah, in 1993 and by the Oakland Museum of California in 1996, titled “Remember Your Relations: the Elsie Allen Baskets, Family & Friends.” This basket purportedly was purchased from the Allen family during an exhibition.