Woven Trinket Box
Dimensions15.9 cm (6 1/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Alex Steele, 1974
Object number1974.022.064
Label TextAs an object with no known donor, Museum London staff know nothing about the making or acquisition of this object. However, it looks like an Indigenous-made splint basket made of brown ash. Brown ash grows in wetlands and, when pounded with the back of an axe, separates along its annual growth rings. Each ring can be split in half and, depending upon the thickness of the material, can be split again. The material is then gauged to create uniform splint widths and often dyed with botanical dyes and later with commercial dyes. As other similar boxes were made for the tourist market, it is possible that this one was too.
NameBasket, Trinket
