Basket
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1840
name: label: Collector
content: Captain Reuben Joy Jr.
label: Collector
content: Capt. Joy
label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: FINELY WOVEN BASKET OF COCONUT FIBER WOVEN IN A PATTERN OF TRIANGLES, IN BLACK AND REDDISH-BROWN. THE TRIANGLES ARE OUTLINED BY MEANS OF SMALL SHELL BEADS WHICH ARE WOVEN INTO THE BODY OF THE BASKET. THE INTERIOR LAYER OF THE BASKET IS A BUNDLE COIL FORM WITH A SIMPLE CROSS STITCH. THIS OBJECT WAS ON PERMANENT EXHIBITED IN THE PACIFIC HALL, N.M.N.H., BUT WAS REMOVED TO BE EXHIBITED IN "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS," NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 1985-86. EXHIBITED SITES "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS," 1987-1989. PUBLICATION: "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS," BY VIOLA & MARGOLIS, S.I. PRESS, 1985, P. 133.
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "THOUGH CALLED CAROLINE IN ORIGINAL CATALOG, IT IS CLEARLY FROM TONGA AS SHOWN IN FOLLOW[ing reference]: J. SODERSTROM: "A. SPARRMAN'S ETHNOLOGICAL COLLECTION FROM JAMES COOK EXPEDITION, "ETHNOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM OF SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM NEW SERIES, PUB. NO. 6, 1939, P1. 15, NO. 2, AND PAGE 46-7. WHERE AN APPARENTLY ALMOST IDENTICAL SPECIMEN IS ILLUSTRATED AND THE EXTERIOR IS THE SAME WITH SHELL BEADS ENTERED AMONG THE WEAVING STRANDS, BUT INSTEAD OF THE KNOTTED TECHNIQUE USED ON THE INTERIOR LAYER OF THE BASKET, THIS SPECIMEN OF THE MUSEUM'S HAS THE INSIDE MADE IN BUNDLE COIL FORM WITH A SIMPLE CROSSED STITCH. THE RIM HAS THE SAME VERY FINELY BRAIDED WRAPPING. - S. RIESENBERG."
label: Notes
content: Tongan basket, kato mosi kaka. It is made of kaka, threads from the fibrous integument at the top of coconut palms, This material is separated into threads or strands and twined into flatish baskets. The strands are used in their natural color as well as dyed black to form designs, usually of triangular shape, that form motifs called manulua - two birds flying together. The triangles are outlined with beads made of white shell and a brown substance that has not been identified. The manulua design is a metaphor that relates to high genealogical rank on both sides of an individual's parentage. The kato mosi kaka baskets were used by high ranking women to carry personal items.
label: Notes
content: This basket had been listed in the Peale catalogue, under # 564, as presented to the United States Exploring Expedition by "Capt. Joy" (it was erroneously listed in the Peale catalogue as from the Caroline Islands.) This Captain Joy may be the same man that presented sled E2811 to the Expedition in Hawaii in 1840 - Captain Reuben Joy, Jr. of the Nantucket whaling ship "Hero." See the remarks for sled E2811.
label: Notes
content: Illustrated Fig. 17.1a, p. 261 and discussed p. 260 in Kaeppler, Adrienne L. 2019. "A Kato Mosi Kaka and other Treasures from Tonga from the US Exploring Expedition." In Collecting and Provenance: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach. Milosch, Jane and Pearce, Nick, editors. 257–268. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 16 Sep 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Tongatapu Group, Tonga, Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tongan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 66A00050
label: USNM Number
content: E5696-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Basket
physicalDescription: label: Width - Object
content: 39 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 26 cm