Additional Information: Flat baskets or lids such as this are among the most exquisite artworks made by the Tutsi women. The Tutsi (Watutsi or Watusi) people live mainly in Rwanda and Burundi along side with the Hutu and the Twa with whom they share similar cultures and speak the same language, the Kinyaruanda. The Tutsi excel in producing these beautiful miniature lidded baskets, which become symbols of the Tutsi culture. These baskets called Agaseki were made from vegetable fibers of sisal and papyrus trees (Nigwegwe). The grasses of these trees were soaked in the water for almost two weeks to make them soft. Then they were beaten with stones and dried. Earlier examples like this were made of the natural pale gold color of the fibers decorated with the patterns in black which came from boiling the root and seeds of the Urukamgi plant or the banana flowers.  These baskets were served as containers to transport valued foods such as eggs, milk, beans, meat, and other valuable objects. They were presented as wedding gifts to a bride and groom. They were also used as decoration. Flat ones like this offered example were used as lids of baskets, vessels, or  pots o.After the genocide of 1994,  miniature baskets have became symbols of peace, as Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa women sit side by side to weave the "peace baskets". They have new designs and are more colorful compare to these earlier examples. Also, the straw used for these new baskets is thicker than the traditional ones.  Recommended Reading:Kathleen Margaret Trowell. Tribal Crafts of Uganda. London: Oxford University Press, 1953 Georges Celis. " The Decorative Arts in Rwanda and Burundi" in African Arts 4(1), 1970:40-42 Margaret Carey, "Five Miniature Baskets ", In AFRICA. THE ART OF A CONTINENT, T. Phillips (ed.), pp. 158-59. Munich Prestel, 1995 I have examined this piece and agree with the description Niangi Batulukisi, PhD.

• Type of Object: Basket
• Materials: Straw
• Country of Origin: Rwanda, Burundi
• Dimensions: 5.75 Inches Diameter
• People: Tutsi

Type of Object: BasketAfrica Direct