2 Chumash Baskets Found After Theft From Mission
Two Chumash baskets stolen from the San Buenaventura Mission this month have been recovered.
They were discovered by Jim Vitanza, a Montecito gallery owner, who bought one of the baskets at a store in Yucaipa. When he returned home, Vitanza found a flyer describing the stolen baskets and realized that he had one.
The Ventura Police Department was able to locate the second basket, but officials of the Ventura County Museum of History and Art, which owned the baskets, refused to disclose further details about the discovery.
One of the baskets constitutes the “height of art, workmanship, design and spacing of elements,” said Delee Marshall, curator of collections for the Ventura County Museum of History and Art. They are both from the Juan Camarillo collection.
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