A pictorial reference for basket makers and collectors
Basket Oak
Buttocks Basket
Pine Needle Basket
Space Dyed
Sweetgrass Basket
Basket Oak (Quercus michauxii):
Called
"basket oak" because baskets were woven from strips
obtained by splitting the wood. Also called Swamp
Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, Chestnut Oak.
Buttocks Basket: Basket
made on a frame of 2 hoops with multiple ribs.
Woven with flat weavers in a continuous basket
weave (over / under). Generally with two pronounced
curves suggesting "buttocks". Often referred to as
an egg basket. Sometimes referred to as a "fanny"
basket. Common in the Eastern United States, in the
Appalachian Mountains in particular. Antique
examples are usually made of oak or hickory,
sometimes of ash. Many modern basketmakers use
round and flat reed with oak hoops.
Pine Needle Basket: Basket
made with the coil method using pine needles and
usually a lashing material such as raffia.
Space Dyed: This
is a dyeing process where one "strand" (or spoke,
stake, weaver) receives more than one color. It
then produces an irregular, random design of color
or a progression of shades of the same color.
Sweetgrass Basket: Basket
made with a long grass that grows along the Eastern
coast of the United States using the coil method.
South Carolina basketmakers are known for their
basketry skill with sweetgrass, also known as
Gullah baskets. The lashing material is usually
palmetto leaf, but sometimes white oak splints have
been used as well. See also Gullah Heritage