“Basket making is the craft of making containers by interlacing pliable strips of wood or other vegetable fibres using a technique similar to weaving. It is one of the oldest crafts, and examples of it have been found in Iraq that are thought to date to 5000 BCE” (McGovern 2008: p. 295)
Resources
- Basketry in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK – A useful guide to baskets and the museum layout and a section about methods of construction
- basketmaker.net – is a free service to basketmakers and chairseaters, bringing the best of these crafts to a wider public
- Flickr ‘Basket’ Group Pool – emphasis on makers own work & process plus basket portraits
- Flickr ‘Basket World’ Group Pool – emphasis on baskets at work all over the world
- basketmaker.com – index of basket makers and a section with how-tos
- Digital Archive of Documents related to Basketry – free eBooks
Organisations
- The Basketmakers’ Association – UK
- The Scottish Basketmakers’ Circle
- Californian Indian Basketweavers Association
- US National Basketry Organization
- Pileforeningen (The Willow Association) – Denmark
- Heritage Crafts Association, UK – supports heritage crafts and has case studies on basket makers
- The Worshipful Company of Basket Makers, London, UK – The Basketmakers Company are one of the many ancient Livery Companies which are the descendants of the City Guilds of the middle ages.
- Basketmakers of Victoria, Australlia
Museums and Galleries
- Vissinggaard Basketry Museum - Denmark
- Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture – Seattle, US
- List of Museums with significant basketry collections
References
McGovern, Una 2008. Lost Crafts: Rediscovering Traditional Skills. Chambers: Edinburgh.
Read our posts on basketry:
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Note: As I am not a basket weaver myself I have no idea which books are good and which are not. I urge readers to help out by commenting suggestions!
Thanks,
Eddie
