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.
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 ]
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.
During the Industrial Revolution, baskets were used in factories and for packing and deliveries. Wicker furniture became fashionable in Victorian society.[ citation needed ]
During the World Wars some pannier baskets were used for dropping supplies of ammunition and food to the troops. [16]
Basketry may be classified into four types: [13]
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]
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 ]
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 ]
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 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 ]
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 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]
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 ]
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]
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Native Americans traditionally make their baskets from the materials available locally.
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.
In Mi'kma'ki (composed of now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and eastern Quebec, Canada), the Mi’kmaq used plants and animals for their fibre and dye sources in their basketry. Two archaeological sites revealed traditional materials of moose-tendon fibres, cattail plant (Typha latifolia), true rush (Scirpus lacustris), sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata), American beach grass (Amophilia brevingulata), birch tree (Betula papyrifera), white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), basswood (Tilia Americana), black ash (Fraxinus nigra), white ash (Fraxinus americana), poplar (Populus tremuloides), and red maple (Acer rubrum). Black ash, or wosqoq, basketry is a vital part of Mi'kmaw culture and art. Baskets were functional, used in agriculture, and also decorative. Mi'kmaw basket makers were renowned for their intricate patterns woven in bright colours. [28]
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 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). [29]
Northwestern peoples use spruce root, cedar bark, and swampgrass. Ceremonial basketry hats are particularly valued by Northwest 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.
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.
In northwestern Mexico, the Seri people continue to "sew" baskets using splints of the limberbush plant, Jatropha cuneata .[ citation needed ]
In Greece, basket weaving is practiced by the anchorite monks of Mount Athos.
Wolof baskets are a coil basket created by the Wolof tribe of Senegal. [35] These baskets is considered a women's craft, which have been passed across generations. [36] 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. [36] These baskets are strong and used for laundry hampers, planters, bowls, rugs, and more. [36]
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. [37] [38] Starting in the late 1960s, Zulu basketry was a dying art form due to the introduction of tin and plastic water containers. [38] 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. [38] 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. [38] Beauty Ngxongo is the most renowned living Zulu basket weaver. [39] [38]
Zulu telephone wire baskets are a contemporary craft. [40] These are often brightly colored baskets and made with telephone wire (sometimes from a recycled source), which is a substitute for native grasses. [40]
The Pomo are a Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small group, the Tceefoka, lived in the vicinity of present-day Stonyford, Colusa County, where they were separated from the majority of Pomo lands by Yuki and Wintuan speakers.
For other uses see: Basket (disambiguation)
Esparto, halfah grass, or esparto grass is a fiber produced from two species of perennial grasses of north Africa, Spain and Portugal. It is used for crafts, such as cords, basketry, and espadrilles. Stipa tenacissima and Lygeum spartum are the species used to produce esparto.
Arundinaria is a genus of bamboo in the grass family the members of which are referred to generally as cane. Arundinaria is the only bamboo native to North America, with a native range from Maryland south to Florida and west to the southern Ohio Valley and Texas. Within this region Arundinaria canes are found from the Coastal Plain to medium elevations in the Appalachian Mountains.
Wicker is a method of weaving used to make products such as furniture and baskets, as well as a descriptor to classify such products. It is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as c. 3000 BC. Wicker was first documented in ancient Egypt, then having been made from pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. The word wicker or "wisker" is believed to be of Scandinavian origin: vika, which means "to fold" in Swedish. Wicker is traditionally made of material of plant origin, such as willow, rattan, reed, and bamboo, though the term also applies to products woven from synthetic fibers. Wicker is light yet sturdy, making it suitable for items that will be moved often like porch and patio furniture. Rushwork and wickerwork are terms used in England. A typical braiding pattern is called Wiener Geflecht, Viennese Braiding, as it was invented in 18th century Vienna and later most prominently used with the Thonet coffeehouse chair.
Mike Dart is a Native American basket weaver and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, who lives in Oklahoma.
The visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which includes Central America and Greenland. The Siberian Yupiit, who have great cultural overlap with Native Alaskan Yupiit, are also included.
Kelly Jean Church is a black ash basket maker, Woodlands style painter, birchbark biter, and educator. She lives in Michigan.
Elsie Comanche Allen was a Native American Pomo basket weaver from the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California in Northern California, significant as for historically categorizing and teaching Californian Indian basket patterns and techniques and sustaining traditional Pomo basketry as an art form.
The pasiking is the indigenous basket-backpack found among the various ethno-linguistic groups of Northern Luzon in the Philippines. Pasiking designs have sacred allusions, although most are purely aesthetic. These artifacts, whether handwoven traditionally or with contemporary variations, are considered exemplars of functional basketry in the Philippines and among Filipinos.
Tell Sabi Abyad is an archaeological site in the Balikh River valley in northern Syria. It lies about 2 kilometers south of Tell Hammam et-Turkman.The site consists of four prehistoric mounds that are numbered Tell Sabi Abyad I to IV. Extensive excavations showed that these sites were inhabited already around 7500 to 5500 BC, although not always at the same time; the settlement shifted back and forth among these four sites.
Jeffrey Gale is an American craftsman, known for his white-ash basketry. His work is found in private collections and in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery. His craft derives both from research into past techniques and from his own innovations that build on tradition.
Ruth Castle is a New Zealand weaver. Her work has been exhibited widely and is held in a range of public New Zealand institutions.
Basketry of Mexico has its origins far into the pre Hispanic period, pre-dating ceramics and the domestication of crops. By the time the Spanish arrived, there were a number of indigenous forms, a number of which are still made today. These and products that the Spanish introduced form the combined tradition that remains today. Like other Mexican handcrafts, sales to tourists and collectors is important, but basketry is not as popular as other handcrafts. Basketry techniques and materials vary from region to region depending on the vegetation available, with important traditions in Sonora, State of Mexico, Michoacán, Veracruz, Oaxaca and the Yucatán Peninsula.
Bambooworking is the activity or skill of making items from bamboo, and includes architecture, carpentry, furniture and cabinetry, carving, joinery, and weaving. Its historical roots in Asia span cultures, civilizations, and millennia, and is found across East, South, and Southeast Asia.
A fully feathered basket is a type of basket crafted by a select group of Indigenous people of California who have traditionally resided in the coastal region of Northern California above San Francisco. The baskets are distinguished by the matted layer of feathers, which completely cover the exterior of the basket. They are highly collectible and renowned for their fine craftsmanship.
William Ralganal Benson (1862–1937) was an Eastern Pomo basket maker from California. He and his wife Mary Knight Benson (Pomo) excelled in traditional basket making. Their work can be found in the collections of major museums.
Mary Knight Benson (1877–1930) was a Pomo woman from California who excelled in basket making. Her work is highly collectible and renowned for fine craftsmanship. She and her husband, William Ralganal Benson, partnered in basket weaving, and their work is in public museum collections.
Cherish Nebeshanze Parrish is a black ash basket maker and birchbark biter. She is a member of the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan and of Odawa descent.
Mizo craft refers to as Mizoram handicrafts, is a traditional art and techniques of the inhabitants of Mizoram state, prominently known as the "Songbird of the North east". Its people are collectively known as Mizo. Mizo craftsmanship exists since ancient period. Its artisans use simple tools designed to produce traditional products. Handloom, cane and bamboo weaving are the core elements of its handicraft identity.
Nomadic hunter-gatherers are limited to technology that can be carried....You can't be burdened with pottery and printing presses as you shift camp....For example, the earliest attested precursors of ceramics are fired clay figurines made in the area of modern Czechoslovakia 27,000 years ago, long before the oldest known fired clay vessels (from Japan 14,000 years ago)....the oldest known basket appears around 13,000 years ago