Description (Labels & Markings)
Sales tag attached with string: 'Frank M Covert Mexican and Indian goods. 329 5th Av., N.Y. / NO. A1 tribe; TRIBE Absynia DESCRIPTION Helmet.'
On reverse: 'Prof. [W] Bateson / Feb. 1910'
Event Date
Author: maa

Description (Labels & Markings)
Label attached with string: 'E.1910.4[9] / bowl-shaped basket / Abyssinia / W. Bateson, M.A.'
Event Date
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card incorrectly marked E 1910.4 and BB 1910.49: 'Basket.'
Event Date
Author: maa

Context (Other owners)
Bought from Frank M. Covert, New York by William Bateson in February 1910.
Event Date 2/1910
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Basket has leather decoration, strap and tassels. Strap detached at one end.
Event Date 2/6/2003
Author: Katrina Dring

Description (Physical description)
Basket made from coiled plant fibre with a braided leather handle. Conical basket with small flat base decorated with strips and braids of leather; circle of leather sewn onto the base, two wide bands divided into three around the walls and a zigzag of braided leather below the rim; two tassels of leather attached near rim. One side of handle is broken and detached; patch of lighter leather adhered to base. Described on one label as a helmet.
Event Date 21/2/2022
Author: Katrina Dring

Context (Amendments / updates)
The Ethiopian basket was found with two labels, one giving E 1910.4[9] as the idno and the other without an idno. No permanent marking was found on the basket. A catalogue card marked E 1910.4 was found in the Ethiopia catalogue card drawer, annotated with BB 1910.49, but appears to be a modern replacement.
In the Accession Register, E 1910.3-4 are listed as a pair of coconut shells from the Nicobar Islands, donated by Captain Hulbert (AR 1911.281-282). E 1910.49 is a carved spear from New Caledonia, part of the Kingsley Bequest (AR 1911.391). Therefore neither of these idnos can apply to the Ethiopian basket.
In the Blue Book, a group of numbers appear to have been accidentally duplicated. The basket from Abysinnia and donated by William Bateson is listed in an entry dated March 1910 against the number 49 and with E 1910.4 in the margin being struck through. BB 1910.49 also appears to be listed as a group of photographs from Hampshire and possibly a spear from Oceania.
It seems, therefore, that although there is a record of the basket entering the museum in 1910 it was never assigned a unique idno. The temporary number TEMP.01724 has been assigned as a unique identifier.
Event Date 22/2/2022
Author: Katrina Dring