Clarke Historical Museum
  • Home
    • Land Acknowledgement
    • Work at the Clarke!
    • About the Clarke >
      • Staff & Board
    • How to find us
  • Exhibits
    • Native Plant Garden
    • Main Hall >
      • Stitched in Time: Humboldt County's Quilted History
      • Emmerson Room >
        • Fall Harvest
        • The Carolyn Burns Foundation
      • Historic Firearms
      • Clarke Bird Collection
      • Clarke Gem & Mineral Collection
    • Nealis Hall >
      • About Nealis Hall
      • History of Nealis Hall
      • Becker Memorial Collection
      • Hover Collection
      • Wiyot People, Places, and Practices
      • Traditional Legacy: Baskets from the 1800's
      • Weaving Wonders: Exceptional Design
      • Nellie McGraw
      • Past Mini-Exhibits
    • Community Case
    • Opera Alley >
      • Past Opera Alley Exhibits
    • WWII Memorial Exhibit at the Humboldt County Airport
    • Virtual Tours
    • Online Exhibits >
      • Immigration, Expulsion, Homecoming
    • Exhibit Archive >
      • Ecological Management
      • Hailstone Collection
      • Maritime History
      • Notable Women of Humboldt County
      • Bigfoot Quilt Raffle
  • Events
    • Winter Wonderland Boutique 2023
  • Support
    • Admission
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Donations & Fundraisers
    • Sponsorships
    • Internships
  • Blog
  • Education
    • Bookstore
    • TikTok Videos
    • Teacher Resources
    • Additional Resources
    • Research >
      • Humboldt History
      • Local History Links
  • NCMA
  • Tours
    • Chinatown Walking Tours
    • School Tours >
      • Donate & Schedule Your Tour
  • Product

Interesting Finds in the Nealis Hall Collection

10/28/2018

2 Comments

 
This week, we'll hear from Brittany Britton, the Registrar-Curator for the Nealis Hall Native American Collections. She'll be discussing a few of the interesting finds she's had while working on an inventory of the collections.

Working with the Nealis Hall basket collection, and looking through our storage area I have been finding interesting baskets that have some materials that deviate from the norm. We are used to seeing baskets that have the typical overlay decoration of beargrass, alder dyed woodwardia fern, maidenhair fern, and wolf moss dyed porcupine quills as the decorative element in basketry here in the Northwest California coast. What have been of interest are the moments when local weavers took chances with other materials.  
Most ceremonial caps will have design work on the crown with traditional materials, but here we have woven dyed yarn added into the overlay for a different color such as this cap from the 1890’s from the Hastings collection.
Picture
It is a small touch with the blue-green fabric that was woven into the overlay for the crown of the cap. It seems incongruous compared to the rest of the cap, but serves to make this cap a unique statement of the weaver and the wearer.
Picture
Picture
In the same realm of embellished caps is this cap from the Hailstone Collection, woven by Ada Charles in the 1930’s using the red strip from cigarette packs as an overlay embellishment. It is striking to see the shiny red material against the glossy black of the maidenhair fern. Previously to get a red color in a basket, a weaver would dye woodwardia fern a rusty red using alder bark. This material would be a matte rusted red color in the basket. I can see the allure and striking decision to incorporate such a common material into this basket cap. This practice of using cigarette pack strips waned as people realized the fragility of the material over time.
Finally a fabric embellishment that serves more of a utilitarian purpose. This acorn flour hopper was collected by Cecile Clarke, it is an item used to keep pounded acorn flour in place when using a mortar and pestle.
Picture
Picture
When I look at our collections it serves to highlight that the notion of traditional materials changes over time with processes. People use what is available to them throughout time, and these man-made materials are what were available and not seen as a detractor to the basket they made.  
2 Comments
college paper review link
1/27/2019 05:46:42 am

I am so obsessed with visiting thrift shops right now. I sometimes think I have been in some places in my past life. What I am looking at as of the moment could really be mine to begin with. They just find their way back to me. That's what thrift shops are for. They are like little time machines. You will never know what hit you. You will be transported to the day and time when you are first introduced to all these antique and vintage finds. I remember looking at this really old closet and I almost cried because I felt so connected.

Reply
best essay au link
2/1/2019 09:11:30 pm

This is my kind of wonderland. It's not everyday that we get to have a chance to see things like this. Some will not be content just staring at these things. They won't stop until they have a chance to own one of these and display them in their hallways. Unfortunately the most precious ones are not only not for sale, they also bring with them a tragic stroke of bad luck. It's better to check the history of every piece before we even think about acquiring them. Most are really better of left to the care of their curators. They will know exactly what to do with them in case any problem arises. Some of them will know what to do if you get cursed.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About

    Keep up with the Clarke through our Blog!
    Posts are sent out once a month with our monthly newsletter, but they post here throughout the month so check back each week for something new!

    ​Posts created by Katie Buesch, Interim Director-Curator unless otherwise noted.

      Subscribe to our newsletter!

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    August 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

Clarke Historical Museum
240 E Street
​Eureka, California 95501
admin@clarkemuseum.org
(707) 443-1947
Open Tuesday-Sunday
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Closed Monday and Tuesday

​Open until 8:30 p.m. during Friday Night Markets
Open until 9 p.m. during Eureka Arts Alive
Copyright © 2018. All Rights Reserved.