Macah Northwest Coast Native American Bear Grass Basket with Whales wooden stoolk The signature of the artist

The signature of the artist at bottom left is largely concealed by the frame

This I believe is one of

including for the way that the back sides of the game board are arched

but I'd love to have met the person who made these clever folk art ashtrays marking the occasions (1952 & 1956)

Macah Northwest Coast Native American Bear Grass Basket with Whales wooden stoolk The signature of the artistNative American baskets of the Pacific Northwest Coast are my very favorite baskets of all, woven of bear grass, with cedar bark around the lip and plated into the bottom, and often featuring figurative imagery relating to whaling, as is the case with this small one from the Makah Tribe of the Northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state, with three whales circling around the perimeter. The design on the lid suggests both rays of sun