Please note this item falls under the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act and is not eligible for international shipping. Native American, Alaska Native, & Native Hawaiian objects are only eligible to ship within the United States. If you live outside of the USA and you bid/win, your bid will be cancelled. Please bid accordingly.

Native American, Southwestern United States, Navajo (Dine) culture, ca. early to mid-20th century CE. A ceremonial hand-coiled shallow bowl that was traditionally given as a wedding gift, made from sumac or willow coils and stitched with strips of yucca, dyed in brown and red hues. The pointed star pattern and the outer rim with a "false braid" finish, are characteristic of Navajo and symbolic of creation stories - note the break in the central pattern- known as a sipapu (shipapu)- forming a path from the outer rim and terminal coil into the center. The 5-pointed center symbolized ancestors, the dark band are rainclouds, the red represents sun, and the outermost rim are current generations of people. The sipapu path is the connection between past and present peoples, and the bowl should be orientated with the path facing to the east, towards the rising sun. Size: 15.75" Diameter x 3" H (40 cm x 7.6 cm); 20.25" H (51.4 cm) on included custom stand.

Before the turn of the 20th century, woven and coiled basketry making was not a crucial part of Navajo culture, and baskets and wedding bowls used by Navajo people were often acquired through trade with neighboring Ute and Paiute tribes. The sacred sipapu, comes from the Hopi word for an opening or indentation in the floor of a kiva, a ritualistic building. The sipapu represents a portal that their ancestors first emerged from - changing from lizard-like beings into humans, the Grand Canyon is the site of the original sipapu.

Please note this item falls under the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act and is not eligible for international shipping. Native American, Alaska Native, & Native Hawaiian objects are only eligible to ship within the United States.

Provenance: private Boulder, Colorado, USA collection

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#177476

Some fraying to yucca fibers, but otherwise intact and tight. Great condition.