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Lidded basket

ca. 1900–1920
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 345
Featuring precise, balanced imagery, this basket is among the finest works woven by Lozi artisans for European missionaries during and immediately following the reign of Litunga (sovereign) Lubosi Lewanika (r. 1878–1916). Subjects of the Barotseland principality in western Zambia, the Lozi are renowned for the quality of their crafts. Celebrated among these are tightly coiled baskets woven by women to store precious commodities. Under Lewanika, the weaving industry greatly expanded in response to external demand. While earlier works produced for local consumption favored geometric patterns, the tastes of a Western clientele spurred the expansion of decorative repertoires to include zoomorphic designs, such as the quadruped and biped figures processing along the lid and body of this vessel.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Lidded basket
  • Artist: Lozi artist
  • Date: ca. 1900–1920
  • Geography: Zambia, Barotseland, Zambezi River region
  • Culture: Lozi
  • Medium: Makenge root fiber, pigment
  • Dimensions: H. 6 5/16 × W. 12 3/16 × L. 24 7/16 in. (16 × 31 × 62 cm)
  • Classification: Basketry-Containers
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Julie Jason, Ilona Eken, and Leila Laoun Gift, and William B. Goldstein, MD, Gift, 2021
  • Object Number: 2021.225a, b
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

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