A Gift of Beauty

Image of a rectangular purse basket with braided sweetgrass, ring closure, and a braided sweetgrass handle above the title A Gife of Beauty.

Robert Anderson spent years carefully and lovingly building his collection of Wabanaki baskets, tools, and blocks, many of which came from his own Penobscot basketmaking family. His collection is unique in that many of the baskets and tools are traceable to the person or family that wove the basket or used the tools. Basketmaking was a method of survival for many
Wabanaki families who made and sold baskets to be used in homes, fields, and industries, their work largely anonymous as it was rarely signed or dated. Historians and anthropologists of the past largely ignored the importance of basketmaking in Wabanaki communities. Basketmaking continues to be important and a source of pride in contemporary Wabanaki cultures and communities. Robert Anderson leaves a gift of beauty that will inspire current and future generations of Penobscot and Wabanaki basketmakers for many years to come.

Acorn Basket

c.1920- 1950

HM9487

Acorn Tatting Block

c. 1920- 1950

HM9334

Yarn Basket

c.1950- 1960

HM9449

Yarn Basket Block

This block bears the initials “L. S. F.” for Lizzie Francis.

c.1950- 1960

HM9357

Passamaquoddy/ Penobscot Sewing Basket

c.1930- 1940

HM9551

Shopper

c.1940- 1970

HM9493

Shopper Block

This block bears the names “Margarette” and “Watty,” Lucy Poolaw.

c.1940- 1970

HM9307

Trunk

This traveling trunk features a twill weave and represents a weaving style that is not commonly represented in collections dating to this time period.

c.1880

HM9623