Presentation Basket, ca. 1822. María Marta.
Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the Regents of the University of California (1-22478). Berkeley, California, USA.

This extraordinary basket is one of the few works created in Spanish America that was signed by an indigenous woman. Made in the northern reaches of New Spain, in the territory that is currently the state of California in the U.S., this basket is one of several known today that bears imagery adapted from Spanish coins. The woven inscription at the rim of the basket tells us the weaver’s name, and perhaps its patron. It reads, “María Marta, neofita de la mision de el Serafico Doctor San Buenaventura me hizo an…(María Marta, neophyte in the mission headed by the seraphic Doctor San Buenaventura made me in the year…)—the year did not fit upon the basket’s rim.

At the time this basket was made, the Chumash people were living in, or under the aegis of Catholic missions. And their baskets became highly-admired, often purchased, collected, or offered as gifts. While it is not known why the pillar motif or the emblems of Castile and León—all of which were drawn from Spanish silver coins—were chosen for the design, Marta followed Chumash practices in her weaving technique, carefully coiling local grasses and plants.

Unlike so many works in Vistas, this one was not made within a guild or a male-dominated workshop. Rather, basketry, like other arts practiced by indigenous women, would have been taught informally within the household. As such, the basket is a type of artistic production (small-scale and domestic) that stands at the other end of the spectrum from works produced en masse in large guild workshops.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Smith, Lillian. 1982. “Three Inscribed Chumash Baskets with Designs from Spanish Coins.” American Indian Art 7: 62-68.

“ Presentation Basket.” In A Century of Collecting: Beginnings: The Phoebe Hearst Era (1901-1920). http://hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu/exhibitions/cent/gallery1_3_9.html.

	Castile: (English) A kingdom on the Iberian peninsula, today in the country of Spain. Technically, Spain's New World possessions belonged only to two kingdoms, Castile and León, because they were responsible for the expeditions of conquest. back to text
	Chumash: (Chumash) Indigenous people who live along the Pacific coast near the modern cities of Santa Barbara, California and on the Northern Channel Islands. In the second half of the 18th century, Spanish missions were first established among the Chumash. back to text
	Guild: (English) A professional association of skilled craftsmen, somewhat similar to a modern union. Painters, sculptors, carpenters, retablo makers, metal-workers all had their own guilds in Spanish America. One had to pass an exam to enter a guild, and membership was generally not open to indigenous artisans. back to text
	New Spain: (English) The name that Spain gave to her northern Viceroyalty, which comprised the modern regions of Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, and the Caribbean. The capital city was Mexico City. back to text
	Spanish America: (English) The areas of the New World under Spanish control. From the 16th to 18th centuries, Spanish America comprised most of South America (except Portuguese-held Brazil), the Caribbean, Central America, and southern and western North America. back to text

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