Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952)
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Title:
Plate 041 Pima Baskets
Date:
1907
Size:
Portfolio, 18 x 22 inches
Medium:
Vintage Photogravure
The baskets made by the Pima, Papago, and Qahatika, as well as by their Maricopa neighbors, are almost identical in form and design. As captured in this image, the four-armed cross, a form of the swastika, appears as the central feature in the decoration of a majority of the Piman and Maricopa baskets. Although the true significance of this iconography is not known with certainty, it is theorized that the pattern originally represented the winds of the four cardinal directions. The swastika was also employed by the Pima to decorate their shields, and as a brand for their horses.