A Large Yokuts Pictorial Coiled Gambling Tray

finely and tightly woven in sedge, redbud and bracken fern on a grass bundle foundation, with encircling friezes of human "friendship" figures and rattle snake bands centering a radiant medallion.

Jerry Collings

George Shaw, Aspen, CO

Private Collection, Paradise Valley, AZ

American Indian Art Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, Winter, 1979, p. 9

Very good original condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For an article on Yokuts gambling trays cf. American Indian Art Magazine, 1975, No. 1, Vol. 1: "Throughout much of what is now called California, the aboriginal population played a game which required the use of dice. Among the Yokuts Indians, who occupied the great San Joaquin Valley and the adjoining foothills, this game of chance was especially popular. In their language this game was called Huuchuish, and was played exclusively by women...The Yokuts basketry dice table...has now come to be recognized as one of the most outstanding contributions to American Indian textile art. The best weavers apparently saw in the gambling tray an opportunity to demonstrate weaving virtuosity to their all important peer group. Some of these weavers are known to have spent a year, or even longer, creating a single specimen. Yokuts women employed the close coiling technique in the construction of their trays. A basket made in this technique consists of a single, continuous coil, which starts at the center of the basket and progresses to the rim. In Yokuts basketry, this coil consists of a core, or a foundation, comprised of a bundle of grass stems, around which is wrapped the weft strand.  This wrapping or sewing process simultaneously binds the successive coils of the basket to each other...Designs employed by Yokuts weavers ranged from simple geometric bands, to complex arrangements of geometric, zoomorphic, and anthropomorphic design elements used in combination....It is truly remarkable that , using only a bone awl and chipped stone for tools, and employing only roots and shoots of plants that none but those who lived at one with the land would have given more than the occasional glance, these Yokuts women were able to create works of such importance that a century later would be among the most prized objects in major art collections." For a related example see Mauer, 1977, p. 265.