Emma (Emmaline) Jackson Garrett (NC, 1933-2015), Two Cherokee Rivercane Planter Baskets

Snowbird Community, Graham County, single weave rivercane with butternut and bloodroot dyes, both of bulbous rectangular form with squared base and round rim, the first featuring Chain over Evening Star / Noonday Sun design, retaining Qualla Arts and Crafts tag listing the craftworker along with a vintage Qualla Arts and Crafts pamphlet (12 1/4 x 10 x 10 in.); the second featuring Chain over Peace Pipe design, unmarked (12 x 9 x 9 in.).

Private Collection, Greensboro, North Carolina

Born in 1933 and raised in Snowbird, the Cherokee community in Graham County, Emma Garrett grew up watching her grandmother Molly Brown make baskets.

Emma Garrett demonstrated rivercane basketry at festivals in Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Snowbird, and she also traveled to powwows occasionally. Her baskets won first place at the Cherokee Fall Fair and were sold at the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual. Her work was featured in the documentary video Cherokee Basketweavers. In addition to weaving baskets, Emma Garrett sang with a gospel trio from the Zion Hill Church in the Snowbird community.

Emma Garrett passed away on April 6, 2015 at the age of eighty-two.

Biography courtesy of Asheville Art Museum

Good estate condition with light dust soiling to interstices.