Guadalupe Arenas
Cahuilla, Santa Rosa Reservation, 1880-1958
Rattlesnake Basket with Eagle, c. 1910
natural and dyed juncus and sumac on a deer grass
foundation Gift of J. Smeaton Chase
A91-1974

Guadalupe Arenas, Cahuilla, 1880-1958, (née Rice), created Rattlesnake Basket with Eagle and Rattlesnake Basket, Small Bowl. She was renowned for her skill in weaving diamondback rattlesnakes into her dynamic basket designs. The dark spiral form of the snake creates a sharp contrast with the lighter modeled yellow and orange juncus background. Born near Indio, California, Arenas lived and worked in Palm Springs at Nellie Coffman’s Sanatorium, which later became the Desert Inn. Coffman and other early residents of Palm Springs, including J. Smeaton Chase, collected her baskets.

Cahuilla basket weaver Donna Largo knew Arenas, and in a 1996 publication on the fine art of California basketry, she described the rattlesnake and eagle in Rattlesnake Basket with Eagle, c. 1910, as Arenas’ signature elements. Frank LaPena (Nomtipom Wintu) pointed out that the isolated dark bar above the snake is the artist’s signature.