Weaving of pliable materials to make three-dimensional artifacts

For the prehistoric culture, see Basketmaker culture

A woman weaves a basket in Cameroon Woven bamboo basket for sale in K. R. Market, Bangalore, India

Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets may be known as basket makers and basket weavers. Basket weaving is also a rural craft.

Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials—anything that will bend and form a shape. Examples include pine, straw, willow (esp. osier), oak, wisteria, forsythia, vines, stems, fur, hide, grasses, thread, and fine wooden splints. There are many applications for basketry, from simple mats to hot air balloon gondolas.

Many Indigenous peoples are renowned for their basket-weaving techniques.

History

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While basket weaving is one of the widest spread crafts in the history of any human civilization, it is hard to say just how old the craft is, because natural materials like wood, grass, and animal remains decay naturally and constantly. So without proper preservation, much of the history of basket making has been lost and is simply speculated upon.[citation needed]

Middle East

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The earliest reliable evidence for basket weaving technology in the Middle East comes from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic phases of Tell Sabi Abyad II[1] and Çatalhöyük.[2] Although no actual basketry remains were recovered, impressions on floor surfaces and on fragments of bitumen suggest that basketry objects were used for storage and architectural purposes. The extremely well-preserved Early Neolithic ritual cave site of Nahal Hemar yielded thousands of intact perishable artefacts, including basketry containers, fabrics, and various types of cordage.[3] Additional Neolithic basketry impressions have been uncovered at Tell es-Sultan (Jericho),[4] Netiv HaGdud,[3] Beidha,[5] Shir,[6] Tell Sabi Abyad III,[7] Domuztepe,[8] Umm Dabaghiyah,[9] Tell Maghzaliyah,[8] Tepe Sarab,[10] Jarmo,[11] and Ali Kosh.[12]

The oldest known baskets were discovered in Faiyum in upper Egypt[13] and have been carbon dated to between 10,000 and 12,000 years old, earlier than any established dates for archaeological evidence of pottery vessels, which were too heavy and fragile to suit far-ranging hunter-gatherers.[14] The oldest and largest complete basket, discovered in the Negev in the Middle East, dates to 10,500 years old.[15] However, baskets seldom survive, as they are made from perishable materials. The most common evidence of a knowledge of basketry is an imprint of the weave on fragments of clay pots, formed by packing clay on the walls of the basket and firing.

Woven baskets made of rush and palm fronds

Industrial Revolution

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During the Industrial Revolution, baskets were used in factories and for packing and deliveries. Wicker furniture became fashionable in Victorian society.[citation needed]

World Wars

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During the World Wars some pannier baskets were used for dropping supplies of ammunition and food to the troops.[16]

Types

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Basketry may be classified into four types:[13]

• Coiled basketry, using grasses, rushes and pine needles
• Plaiting basketry, using materials that are wide and braid-like: palms, yucca or New Zealand flax
• Twining basketry, using materials from roots and tree bark. This is a weaving technique where two or more flexible weaving elements ("weavers") cross each other as they weave through the stiffer radial spokes.
• Wicker and Splint basketry, using materials like reed, cane, willow, oak, and ash

Materials used in basketry

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Bending vines for basket construction in Pohnpei

Weaving with rattan core (also known as reed) is one of the more popular techniques being practiced, because it is easily available.[13] It is pliable, and when woven correctly, it is very sturdy. Also, while traditional materials like oak, hickory, and willow might be hard to come by, reed is plentiful and can be cut into any size or shape that might be needed for a pattern. This includes flat reed, which is used for most square baskets; oval reed, which is used for many round baskets; and round reed, which is used to twine; another advantage is that reed can also be dyed easily to look like oak or hickory.[citation needed]

Many types of plants can be used to create baskets: dog rose, honeysuckle, blackberry briars once the thorns have been scraped off and many other creepers. Willow was used for its flexibility and the ease with which it could be grown and harvested. Willow baskets were commonly referred to as wickerwork in England.[17]

Water hyacinth is used as a base material in some areas where the plant has become a serious pest. For example, a group in Ibadan led by Achenyo Idachaba have been creating handicrafts in Nigeria.[18]

Other materials used in basketry include cedar bark, cedar root, spruce root, cattail leaves and tule. Some elements that may be used for decoration include maidenhair fern stems, horsetail root, red cherry bark and a variety of grasses. These materials vary widely in color and appearance.[19]

Vine

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Because vines have always been readily accessible and plentiful for weavers, they have been a common choice for basketry purposes. The runners are preferable to the vine stems because they tend to be straighter. Pliable materials like kudzu vine to more rigid, woody vines like bittersweet, grapevine, honeysuckle, wisteria and smokevine are good basket weaving materials. Although many vines are not uniform in shape and size, they can be manipulated and prepared in a way that makes them easily used in traditional and contemporary basketry. Most vines can be split and dried to store until use. Once vines are ready to be used, they can be soaked or boiled to increase pliability.[citation needed]

Wicker

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The type of baskets that reed is used for are most often referred to as "wicker" baskets, though another popular type of weaving known as "twining" is also a technique used in most wicker baskets.[citation needed]

Process

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The parts of a basket are the base, the side walls, and the rim. A basket may also have a lid, handle, or embellishments.

Most baskets begin with a base. The base can either be woven with reed or wooden. A wooden base can come in many shapes to make a wide variety of shapes of baskets. The "static" pieces of the work are laid down first. In a round basket, they are referred to as "spokes"; in other shapes, they are called "stakes" or "staves". Then the "weavers" are used to fill in the sides of a basket.

A wide variety of patterns can be made by changing the size, colour, or placement of a certain style of weave. To achieve a multi-coloured effect, aboriginal artists first dye the twine and then weave the twines together in complex patterns.

Basketry around the world

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Asia

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South Asia

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Punjabi basketmakers, c. 1905

Basketry exists throughout the Indian subcontinent. Since palms are found in the south, basket weaving with this material has a long tradition in Tamil Nadu and surrounding states.[citation needed]

East Asia

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Basket making in Hainan, China. The material is bamboo strips.

Chinese bamboo weaving, Taiwanese bamboo weaving, Japanese bamboo weaving and Korean bamboo weaving go back centuries. Bamboo is the prime material for making all sorts of baskets, since it is the main material that is available and suitable for basketry. Other materials that may be used are ratan and hemp palm.[citation needed]

In Japan, bamboo weaving is registered as a traditional Japanese craft (工芸, kōgei) with a range of fine and decorative arts.[citation needed]

Southeast Asia

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A falaka crafted by the Bontoc people of the Philippines.

Southeast Asia has thousands of sophisticated forms of indigenous basketry produce, many of which use ethnic-endemic techniques. Materials used vary considerably, depending on the ethnic group and the basket art intended to be made. Bamboo, grass, banana, reeds, and trees are common mediums.[20][21][22]

Oceania

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Polynesia

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Basketry is a traditional practice across the Pacific islands of Polynesia. It uses natural materials like pandanus, coconut fibre, hibiscus fibre, and New Zealand flax according to local custom. Baskets are used for food and general storage, carrying personal goods, and fishing.[citation needed]

Australia

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Basketry has been traditionally practised by the women of many Aboriginal Australian peoples across the continent for centuries.[23][24][25]

The Ngarrindjeri women of southern South Australia have a tradition of coiled basketry, using the sedge grasses growing near the lakes and mouth of the Murray River.[26]

The fibre basketry of the Gunditjmara people is noted as a cultural tradition, in the World Heritage Listing of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in western Victoria, Australia, used for carrying the short-finned eels that were farmed by the people in an extensive aquaculture system.[27]

North America

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Native American basketry

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A Seri basket of the haat hanóohcö style, Sonora, Mexico

Native Americans traditionally make their baskets from the materials available locally.

Arctic and Subarctic

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Arctic and Subarctic tribes use sea grasses for basketry. At the dawn of the 20th century, Inupiaq men began weaving baskets from baleen, a substance derived from whale jaws, and incorporating walrus ivory and whale bone in basketry.

Northeastern

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Handmade kudzu basket made in the Appalachian Oriole style

In New England, traditional baskets are woven from Swamp Ash. The wood is peeled off a felled log in strips, following the growth rings of the tree. In Maine and the Great Lakes regions, traditional baskets are woven from black ash splints. Pack baskets from the Adirondack region have traditionally been woven from black ash or willow. Baskets are also woven from sweet grass, as is traditionally done by Canadian indigenous peoples. Birchbark is used throughout the Subarctic, by a wide range of peoples from the Dene to Ojibwa to Mi'kmaq. Birchbark baskets are often embellished with dyed porcupine quills. Some of the more notable styles are Nantucket Baskets and Williamsburg Baskets. Nantucket Baskets are large and bulky,[citation needed] while Williamsburg Baskets can be any size, so long as the two sides of the basket bow out slightly and get larger as it is woven up.

Southeastern

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Southeastern peoples, such as the Atakapa, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chitimacha, traditionally use split river cane for basketry. A particularly difficult technique for which these peoples are known is double-weave or double-wall basketry, in which each basketry is formed by an interior and exterior wall seamlessly woven together. Doubleweave, although rare, is still practiced today, for instance by Mike Dart (Cherokee Nation).[28]

Northwestern

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Northwestern peoples use spruce root, cedar bark, and swampgrass. Ceremonial basketry hats are particularly valued by Northeast peoples and are worn today at potlatches. Traditionally, women wove basketry hats, and men painted designs on them. Delores Churchill is a Haida from Alaska who began weaving in a time when Haida basketry was in decline, but she and others have ensured it will continue by teaching the next generation.

Californian and Great Basin

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Native American basketweavers working in San Rafael, California in 2015Pomo people girl's coiled dowry or puberty basket (kol-chu or ti-ri-bu-ku), late 19th century

Indigenous peoples of California and Great Basin are known for their basketry skills. Coiled baskets are particularly common, woven from sumac, yucca, willow, and basket rush. The works by Californian basket makers include many pieces in museums.

Southwestern

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Traditional Tohono O'odham basketmaking, 1916

Mexico

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In northwestern Mexico, the Seri people continue to "sew" baskets using splints of the limberbush plant, Jatropha cuneata.[citation needed]

Other North American basketry

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Europe

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In Greece, basket weaving is practiced by the anchorite monks of Mount Athos.

Africa

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Senegal

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Wolof baskets are a coil basket created by the Wolof tribe of Senegal.[34] These baskets is considered a women's craft, which have been passed across generations.[35] The Wolof baskets were traditionally made by using thin cuts of palm frond and a thick grass called njodax; however contemporary Wolof baskets often incorporate plastic as a replacement for the palm fronds and/or re-use of discarded prayer mat materials.[35] These baskets are strong and used for laundry hampers, planters, bowls, rugs, and more.[35]

South Africa

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Zulu baskets are a traditional craft in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa and were used for utilitarian purposes including holding water, beer, or food; the baskets can take many months to weave.[36][37] Starting in the late 1960s, Zulu basketry was a dying art form due to the introduction of tin and plastic water containers.[37] Kjell Lofroth, a Swedish minister living in South Africa, noticed a decline in the local crafts, and after a drought in the KwaZulu-Natal province and he formed the Vukani Arts Association (English: wake up and get going) to financially support single women and their families.[37] In this time period of the late 1960s, only three elderly women knew the craft of Zulu basket weaving but because of the Vukani Arts Association they taught others and revived the art.[37] Beauty Ngxongo is the most renowned living Zulu basket weaver.[38][37]

Zulu telephone wire baskets are a contemporary craft.[39] These are often brightly colored baskets and made with telephone wire (sometimes from a recycled source), which is a substitute for native grasses.[39]

See also

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References

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Further reading

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• Blanchard, M. M. (1928) The Basketry Book. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons
• Bobart, H. H. (1936) Basket Work through the Ages. London: Oxford University Press
• Okey, Thomas (1930) A Basketful of Memories: an autobiographical sketch. London: J. M. Dent
• Okey, Thomas (1912) An Introduction to the Art of Basket-making. (Pitman's Handwork Series.) London: Pitman
• Wright, Dorothy (1959) Baskets and Basketry. London: B. T. Batsford
• Taylor, Eric Jon (2022) "A Basket Life: The Story of my Path to Becoming a Craftsman of Basketry". Luffa Press

Why Should You Use Woven Storage Baskets For Closet?

 

We've all been there—folding and stacking clothes in our closets, only to have them topple over and create a chaotic mess. That's where the importance of using storage solutions comes in. In this blog, we'll explore why you need to use woven storage baskets for closet. 

1. Satisfy your storage needs

A reason why you should choose handcrafted storage baskets for closet is its sturdy frame. Woven organizers with a metal frame or a sturdy frame are beneficial for storing clothes, compared to linen ones. This feature of baskets will prevent outfits from falling on each other and becoming disheveled. 

At Artera Home, we take pride in our Yen Loc baskets for shelves. These wickers are known for their sturdy shape and ability to organize your clothes without taking up excessive space. Each basket is meticulously designed to provide functionality and stylish appeal, making it an ideal choice for your closet.

Artera Home’s wicker baskets organize your closet shelves

2. Easily categorize the closet with woven storage baskets for shelves

If you’re looking for ways to categorize each type of clothing, consider using wicker storage baskets for closet. These organizers are perfect for categorizing clothing items, such as underwear or pants, and help find the desired clothes faster.

Picture this: You wake up in the morning, knowing exactly where to find your favorite pair of jeans or that cozy sweater you love—no more frantic searching or wasting time on disorganized chaos. 

Let us introduce you to our collection of woven organizers, which we adore for wardrobe organization. With various sizes and designs available, you can select the perfect basket for each clothing category. What sets our wicker storage baskets for closet apart is their durability. These baskets are built to withstand the weight of your clothes. You can rest assured that your beloved garments will be stored safely and securely, keeping them in good condition while maintaining an organized closet.

3. Hide your personal items

We all know how tricky it can be to find a discreet spot for storing things like underwear or hygiene pads. You might be tempted to stash them under your clothes, but that can make them hard to reach and use when you need them most. Here's where wicker baskets with lids come in handy!

By using woven baskets with lids, you can create a designated space for your personal items while ensuring they remain private and easily accessible. Just place your items inside the basket, close the lid, and voila. You've got discreet storage solutions that keep your sensitive items separate from your clothes.  

If you want to take privacy up a notch, here's another neat trick: position the wicker baskets on the higher shelves of your closet. This will keep your personal items out of sight. Plus, this also maximizes the vertical space for storage capacity. 

Wicker baskets for hiding your personal items

4. Adorn your shelf with storage baskets for closet

One of the things we adore about wicker storage baskets for closet is their dual functionality as both a functional and decorative addition. Their carefully crafted lines contribute to the sturdiness of storage and the beauty of your space.

Whether it's the gentle curves of a twisted weave or the precise angles of an arrow pattern, the weaving lines in wicker baskets can enhance the closet's overall look. With these crafted textures, your wardrobe can become a functional space that reflects your style.

At Artera Home, our wicker baskets are ideal for adorning your closet with a close-kitted texture and neutral colors, ensuring a cohesive and harmonious look for your storage space. The neutral colors also provide versatility, effortlessly blending with the existing color scheme of your wardrobe.

Artera Home’s woven storage adorns your closet

Utilizing woven storage baskets for closet brings many benefits, from practical organization to beauty. If you're looking for your wardrobe organization, don’t hesitate to visit our website and shop now!