Sweetgrass X's & ROYAL PURPLE BASKET, Kenny Keezer, Passamaquoddy, Clara's son

Description

A 2.5" basket
by Kenny Keezer, Passamaquoddy basketmaker.  It is a
round lidded ash basket that has sweetgrass X's woven over natural and thick royal purple dyed ash splint weavers.   The sweetgrass X's are of finely and tightly braided tidal sweetgrass.  At the edge of the top of the lid are rows of braided sweetgrass used as the weavers there.  On the inner rim of the basket (covered by the lid) is a braid of sweetgrass between the baskets rim splints.  There is plain tidal sweetgrass wrapping the overhanging rim of the basket lid.  This shade of purple was one of Clara's favorite colors for her baskets and for many of her clothes.
Kenny Keezer is the youngest son of much honored Clara Neptune Keezer (1930-2016), Passamaquoddy basket maker who was a winner of a NEA 2002 Heritage Fellowship award for her basketry work.  Kenny learned basketry from his mother and incorporates many of her signature styles into his work.  On this basket the bow ribbon handle and the braided sweetgrass placed between rim splints on top of basket (covered by lid) are 2 of his mother, Clara Keezer's signature basket techniques.  -  Kenny's work is very similar to his mother's.  Clara usually made baskets larger than this.  Kenny makes a 2" basket (smaller) and also larger round baskets.
The basket is 2.5" in diameter and 2.5" tall to top of  basket's lid - the handle is a bow ribbon handle which rises  1/4" above the lid.
Among many honors, Clara Neptune Keezer was given the NEA Heritage Fellowship award. -  According to the NEA website, this award is "the country's highest honor in the folk and traditional art" -... and includes all folk arts and crafts including but not limited to - music, dance, performance art and traditional crafts and arts.
This basket is made of brown ash splints, the traditional material of Maine and Eastern Canadian Wabanaki basketmakers and also incorporates plain tidal sweetgrass to wrap the rim of the basket and used for the braided weavers here used decoratively (the X's) as well as for the weavers on the lid's outer top edge.    Tidal sweet grass grows on tidal marshes within view of the Keezer home in the most Northeastern corner of this country... The land and people of the dawn- The Passamaquoddy reserve near Eastport Maine where the dawn hits this country first. The grass here has been picked, dried, combed and braided by Kenny.
Last photo is of Kenny (in orange shirt), his brother Rocky and mother, Clara..... photo taken on a visit to their home about 5 years prior to Clara's passing