228 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM. 1902. 



Examples from the saltpeter caves, and modern pieces from the 

 Cherokee, both in matting and basketr}", are double. B3" this means 

 both the inside and the outside of the texture expose the glossy 

 siliceous surface of the cane. By changing the number of warp splints 

 or a stem over which the weft passes, it will be seen in the figure here 

 given that great variety of diaper or damask effect ma}^ be produced. 

 C. Wicherwm'k. — The name is from the Anglo-Saxon wlcan^ to bend. 

 Common in eastern Canada, it is little known on the Pacific coast and 

 in the Interior Basin, excepting in one or two pueblos, but is seen 

 abundantly in southern Mexico and Central America. It consists of 

 a wide or a thick and inflexible warp and a slender flexible weft (fig. 

 10). The weaving is plain and differs from checkerwork only in the 

 fact that one of the elements is rigid. The effect on the surface is a 

 series of ridges. It is possible also to produce diagonal effects in this 

 type of weaving. 



Wickerwork must have been a very early and primitive form of 

 textile. Weirs for stopping fish are made of brush, and wattled 



fences for game drivers are set up 

 in the same manner. A great deal 

 of the coarse basketry in use for 

 packing and transporting is made in 

 this fashion. The Zuni Indians 

 make gathering baskets of little 

 twigs after the same technic, the 

 inflexi])le warp being made up of a 

 small number of twigs of the same 

 plant, laid side by side. The transi- 

 tion from checker to wicker in some 

 examples is easy. The moment one 

 element, either warp or weft, is a 

 little more rigid than the other, the 

 intersections would naturall}^ assume 

 a wicker form. 



The finest specimens in America are the ver}^ pretty Hopi plaques 

 made of Ch7'i/sotha7nnus inoqidanus and C. laricinus. Short stems are 

 dyed in various colors for weft, the ends worked into the warp and 

 the whole driven tightly home, so as to hide the ends of the warp and 

 even the manner of weaving. (See fig. 11.) 



Various patterns are effected on the surface — geometric figures, 

 clouds, mythical animals and persons, and symbols connected with 

 worship. Wickerwork has pleasing effects combined with diagonal 

 and other work. Fig. 12 is a square Hopi plaque, having twilled 

 weaving in the middle and a band of wicker outside of this, the whole 

 finished with rough, coiled sewing on the border. 



It has passed into modern industr}^ through the cultivation of osiers, 

 rattan, and such plants for market baskets, covers for glass bottles, 



Fig. 11. 



close wickerwork. 



Hopi Indians, Arizona. 



