Butter & Sugar Corn Basket (small size) - Pam Outdusis Cunningham: Penobscot

Description

A bit smaller than Pam outdusis Cunningham's other small corn baskets... This is a "smaller" Butter & Sugar Corn basket by Pam Cunningham, master Penobscot basketmaker. These little corn baskets have been many folks favorite basket by Pam. The "Butter & Sugar" corn is a summer favorite at local farm stands and farmer's markets. The mix of white and yellow kernels on one cob makes it attractive and the sweet taste makes it delicious!   Pam has placed an extra bit of color in the pulled back husks, thin strips of yellow are added to center of the pulled back natural ash color "husks" that are atop the basket lid. She has also "folded" over some of the husks making them even more realistic.
This small size of "basketry corn" is about the size of some varieties grown by some Native American tribes for popping corn and for grinding into cornmeal.
This little corn basket by Pam is just perfect. The lid has the "husks" pulled back and tied with a braid of tidal sweetgrass. This looks like a freshly husked ear of corn. This ear of corn/basket bottom is covered with 96 small round "curlicue" curls. (The curls get smaller at the bottom of the basket) The ear of corn is 2.5" to it's rim, the lid/husk is 4" long - making total length 6.5". The middle of the "ear" is 1.25" in diameter, the curls add a bit to it's girth. 1.25" diameter at lid - slightly tapered to bottom of basket which is .75" diameter. On the interior of the rim of the lid /husk Pam has signed "Pam", added the date and put her maker's mark, a sweet fern unfurling into a turtle - Pam is of the turtle clan.
Made of brown ash, the traditional material of Maine and Eastern Canadian basketmakers, this has plain tidal sweetgrass wrapping the rim of the basket and lid - and the braid of sweetgrass tying the ends of the husk.
There are/will be more of Pam's beloved basket styles in this ebay store soon - pinecones, strawberries, mini-corn, blueberries, pumpkins, prayer baskets, sewing baskets, spectacular sea urchin baskets....
Second to last photo is of Pam dancing at the 2019 Penobscot Nation Community Day Festival.  Last photo is a pic of Pam's great-grandmother, ssipsis, selling her baskets about 1920.  To make some of her basket forms Pam uses some of her ssipsis's basket making tools - gauges, crooked knives and wooden molds.    Be sure to view some of Pam's other baskets in this ebay store.