- Baskets (clockwise from upper left):
- Leather Strap Handle
- Chicken Basket
- Small Basket
- Two Handled Basket
- Large Basket
- Wide Basket
BASKETMAKER
Long before the invention of plastic, households relied on baskets to carry and store everything from apples to flowers to sewing thread. Round, oblong, flat and square, baskets were woven from many types of wood including ash, hickory, cedar, reeds, willow and, many a weaver’s favorite, white oak. The basketmaker cut his own strips for weaving. Beginning with a long, straight trunk, he would use wedges, an ax and a long pocketknife to peel away strip after strip from a six-foot, freshly cut and still-green tree section.
These same steps are used today by the basketmakers at Colonial Williamsburg’s Rural Trades site at Robertson’s Windmill. With deft fingers, skilled basketmakers weave pliant ribbons of fresh wood into containers and chair seats that are both beautiful and utilitarian. In skilled hands, a single basket may take about four hours to weave, but with proper care, it can endure for generations.
For more information:
Video – Basketmaking in Colonial Virginia
For inquiries or purchases please contact Prentis Store at 757-229-1000, Extension 2117 or prentis@cwf.org.
