Aron Griffith Birch Bark Bear Doll
Baskets$275.00Aron Griffith Birch Bark Bear Doll
Aron Griffith, Maliseet artist, creates dolls from birch bark with various designs. While they are often called dolls, Aron further describes them as tributes to Mother Earth and the gifts she offers us. The birch tree has long provided Northeast Woodland Indians with material for containers as well as canoes. Inside the doll is a small ear of corn, representing the sustenance provided by Mother Earth.
This doll, made from light summer bark, is adorned with the image of a bear and bear claws. The bear, one of the strongest land animals in North America, is known for its intelligence and speed as well. On the doll’s back is a small pouch holding coastal sweetgrass and strips of birch bark.
7 1/2 in. high x 7 1/2 in. wide x 2 1/2 in. deep
Aron Griffith Fiddlehead Fern Doll
Baskets$275.00Aron Griffith Fiddlehead Fern Doll
Aron Griffith, Maliseet artist, creates dolls from birch bark with various designs. While they are often called dolls, Aron further describes them as tributes to Mother Earth and the gifts she offers us. The birch tree has long provided Northeast Woodland Indians with material for containers as well as canoes. Inside the doll is a small ear of corn, representing the sustenance provided by Mother Earth.
The design on this doll is of fiddlehead ferns, an important food for Wabanaki and other Woodlands Indians as the earth made the transition from winter to spring. On the doll’s back is a small pouch holding coastal sweetgrass and strips of birch bark.
8 in. high x 7 1/2 in. wide x 2 1/2 in. deep
Aron Griffith tree basket
Baskets$1,200.00Aron Griffith tree basket: Griffith is one of only a few Maine Maliseet artists creating baskets. This is a stunning basket, made from birch bark harvested in the summer, adorned with a sensuous tree on each side. This basket will make a wonderful centerpiece, or a terrific addition to any Native American art collection.
Basket is approximately 12″ in diameter and 12″ high; 16″ high including handle.
Materials: birch bark, brown ash, sinew,
Birch bark doll w/bear design
Baskets$200.00Aron Griffith is one of only a few Maliseet artists creating birch bark objects of beauty. This doll is adorned with bear images created by removing some outer bark to reveal lighter bark below.
Doll is 7″ high, excluding sweetgrass bundle; 8″ wide; 1 1/2″ d
- Sold out
Aron Griffith dragonfly doll
Baskets$200.00Aron Griffith bear doll: Griffith is one of only a few Maliseet artists creating baskets. He works with birch bark, and dolls are one of his specialties. This doll, made from light summer bark, is adorned with mirror images of dragonflies. The dragonfly is a common image in Native American art work, usually symbolizing speed.
The artist adds a light silhouette around the images to create additional contrast between the dark and light surfaces.
Doll is approximately 7″ high; 8″ wide; 1 1/2″ d
Materials: birch bark, corn silk, wood, cedar, sinew, yarn
- Sold out
Aron Griffith bear doll
Baskets$200.00Aron Griffith bear doll: Griffith is one of only a few Maliseet artists creating baskets. He works with birch bark, and dolls are one of his specialties . This doll, made from light summer bark, is adorned with the image of a bear and bear claws. The bear, one of the strongest land animals in North America, is known for its intelligence and speed as well.
The artist adds a light silhouette around the images to create additional contrast between the dark and light surfaces.
Doll is approximately 7″ high; 8″ wide; 1 1/2″ d
Materials: birch bark, corn silk, wood, cedar, sinew, yarn
- Sold out
Aron Griffith tree doll
Baskets$200.00Aron Griffith is one of only a few Maliseet artists creating baskets. He works with birch bark, and dolls are one of his specialties . This doll, made from light summer bark, is adorned with the image of a tree. The branches of the tree grow up and around the arms, creating a fascinating image. The artist adds a light silhouette around the tree to create additional contrast between the dark and light surfaces.
Doll is approximately 7″ high; 8″ wide; 1 1/2″ d
Materials: birch bark, corn silk, wood, cedar, sinew, yarn
Baskets of Time: Profiles of Maine Indian Basket Makers
Books$45.00Baskets of Time: Profiles of Maine Indian Basket Makers
In the early 1990s, the art of Wabanaki basketry was considered nearly extinct. Today it is a recognized as a vibrant and evolving form of Native American art.
What saved this important art form from extinction? The imagination, hard work, and generosity of a core group of elders who had kept the tradition alive, along with the Maine Indian Basketmakers Association. Baskets of Time shares the stories of seventeen artists and families. Each profile describes how the artist learned the art of basket weaving from individuals within their family and from other tribal members. In their own words, they describe how they transform such raw materials as sweetgrass and ash into beautiful baskets that have become award-winning works of art sold in galleries and exhibited in museums, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Gretchen Faulkner, Director of the Hudson Museum at the University of Maine, has written an essay in which she provides the historical background for the tradition of Maine Wabanaki basket making–and the important role the art form played in the past and still plays today in the lives of in the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet and Micmac tribes.
Baskets of Time is beautifully produced book that is fully illustrated with color photography of each artist and their work. It will appeal to collectors of Native American basket making; to people who are just discovering basketry art; and to those who are interested in learning the story of how an ancient Native American art form has been not only saved from extinction but also imbued with the energy and creativity of a new generation of Wabanaki artists.
145 pages, softcover
- Sold out
Aron Griffith Birch Bark Fern Basket
Baskets$800.00Aron Griffith Birch Bark Fern Basket
Griffith is one of only a few Maine Maliseet artists creating baskets. This is a stunning basket, made from birch bark harvested in the summer, adorned with fiddlehead ferns, an important springtime harvest food in northern Maine. This basket will make a wonderful centerpiece, or a terrific addition to any Native American art collection.
The ample sweetgrass at top and bottom lend the basket a wonderful aroma.
Basket is approximately 8″ in diameter and 8″ high including handle.
Materials: birch bark, brown ash, sinew, fossil walrus ivory, sweetgrass.
Materials: birch bark, brown ash, sinew,
