United States · Basketry

Washoe Degikup Coiled Basketry

Degikup

A Washoe coiled basketry tradition originally producing simple, round, watertight utilitarian vessels, transformed by master weaver Louisa Keyser (Dat So La Lee, c. 1829–1925) into a sculptural, non-utilitarian fine-art form — a large spherical basket with a flat base, maximum mid-body circumference, and a narrow tapered opening, covered edge to edge in original abstract geometric designs and woven at documented densities of roughly 30 stitches per inch.

Risk level: Endangered · Not Applicable — the United States is not a State Party to the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage; no US technique can be formally ICH-inscribed regardless of significance.

Alternate Names
Washoe fancy basket
Geographic Center
Carson City area, western Nevada, near the California border
Community / Ethnic Group
Washoe
Estimated Origin
Washoe people have made baskets for countless generations in the traditional round, watertight utilitarian degikup form; the sculptural, art-market degikup style specifically associated with the term today was developed by Louisa Keyser between 1895 and 1925 under the patronage of Abe and Amy Cohn of the Emporium Company, Carson City
Cultural Function
Traditional utilitarian degikup held acorn mush, pine nut soup, and other foods, and played a specific ceremonial role in the Washoe girls' dance, where food was placed in a degikup and given to singers in thanks, with another degikup thrown out to dancers as a gift; the art-market degikup form that developed from this tradition, while non-utilitarian, carried the weaver's individually authored artistic vision and narrative content — Keyser gave her major works titles and explained specific design meanings, such as arrowlike forms representing ripe grain ready for harvest with arrow-point ends signifying hunting
Primary Materials
Willow (Salix species), used for both the coiled foundation rods (warp) and the fine wrapping threads (weft)
Primary Tools
An awl for coiling, used to pierce the foundation rod bundle and guide the wrapping willow thread through each stitch
Process Overview
Coiling a willow foundation from a flat base outward and upward to maximum circumference and then tapering inward to a narrow top opening, stitching each coil to the previous one at extremely fine, even density while executing an original geometric design in dyed bracken fern (black) and redbud (red) against the natural willow background
Traditional Applications
Watertight food storage and serving vessels, ceremonial use in the Washoe girls' dance
Contemporary Applications
Fine-art collector and museum pieces, with historic examples achieving major auction market recognition
Notable Practitioners
Louisa Keyser (Dat So La Lee, c. 1829–1925), the Washoe weaver credited with developing and popularizing the sculptural art-market degikup style over her 1895–1925 patronage relationship with Abe and Amy Cohn, whose works have sold at major auction for over a million dollars and whose 1916 basket 'Myriads of Stars Shine Over Our Dead Ancestors' she herself considered her finest work; Scees Bryant Possack (1858–1918), Dat So La Lee's sister-in-law and a respected weaver in her own right, to whom at least one fine degikup in the National Museum of the American Indian collection may be attributed
Key References
Smithsonian NMAI, 'Dat so la lee degikup baskets' (Infinity of Nations); Brooklyn Museum, 'Degikup Basket' collection notes; Donald Ellis Gallery, 'Louisa Keyser (Dat So La Lee) Independent 20th C.'
Verification Status
Desk-Researched

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