09/13/2026
Artifact of the Week: Acorn Tatting Basket (HM9959) Maine Indian Basketmakers' Alliance Collection
This tatting basket in the shape of an acorn was woven by Mary Mitchell Gabriel, Passamaquoddy (1908-2004). Mary Mitchell Gabriel was a Passamaquoddy tradition-bearer who was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship in 1994. She was one of the founding members of the Maine Indian Basketmakers' Alliance and this basket is from MIBA's collection of historic and contemporary basketry. Mary learned basketmaking traditions from her grandparents and passed her knowledge on to daughters Sylvia Gabriel (1929-2003), Deborah Gabriel Brooks, and Clare Gabriel.
This acorn tatting basket features brown ash weavers and standards and braided sweetgrass. Tatting is a form of lace making, and baskets such as this were made to hang from the arm and hold a ball of thread which would be fed through the a hole in the cover.
Come see objects from around the world at the Hudson Museum in the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus Monday - Friday 9am - 4pm.
You can find out more about this and other Hudson Museum artifacts on our collections page here: https://hudsonmuseum.catalogaccess.com/
