Yellow Basket with Flowers

Dateca 1825

MediumPaint on cotton velvet

DimensionsPrimary Support: 16 1/4 x 20 1/2in. (41.3 x 52.1cm); Unframed, i.e., solid tertiary support: 16 7/16 x 20 1/2in. (41.8 x 52.1cm); and Framed: 19 3/4 x 23 3/4 x 2in.

Credit LineFrom the collection of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; gift of the Museum of Modern Art

Object number1931.403.17

DescriptionAn arrangement of flowers in a yellow basket set on a fringed, dark greenish-blue table mat, with no table or other support shown beneath it. The foot, horizontal middle, and rim of the basket are each marked by a band of gadrooning, or spiral turning; otherwise, the basket is smooth. The mixed flowers are mostly executed in hues of yellow and blue. Artist unidentified.

The 2 1/2-inch molded and gilded frame is a period replacement.
Label TextThree bands of straw twists relieve the otherwise smooth surface of the basket, which is filled with an arrangement of mixed flowers.

Numerous examples of this composition have been noted, at least one of them flopped in comparison with the Folk Art Museum's example. Few documented histories exist to associate the designs with a particular region, however.
ProvenanceFound in Boston, Mass., by Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; sold to Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; given by the latter to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, in 1939; given by MoMA to CWF in June 1954.