BASKETRY: TRADITION AND CHANGE

Author(s): Polly Pollock

Source: Journal of Museum Ethnography , December 1993, No. 4, "BASKETS OF THE
WORLD" (December 1993), pp. 1-24
Published by: Museum Ethnographers Group

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40793518

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 BASKETRY: TRADITION AND CHANGE

Polly Pollock (1)

Traditional Basketmaking

Because baskets have always been made of plant materials which rot e

there is little direct evidence for their early existence. Such evidence is often

form of imprints in clay or fragments found in dry sandy areas. Nonetheless, b

is widely thought of as the earliest craft, predating even ceramics and textiles.

Early baskets were very likely to have been crude "throwaway" containers

carrier bags?) made on the spot as the need arose, to hold and transport gathered fo

example; or they might have been fans. Such baskets are still made in many part

world today. The materials for this type of basket are whatever is easily availa

suited to weaving or folding quickly into the desired form, often without the help

Basketry has evolved out of the need to contain things, ranging from eg

rubbish. Its specific forms have been shaped by the particular uses which it se

agriculture, preparation and serving of food, fishing, trapping, transport, clo

(hats, headdresses, shoes, capes and more decorative body adornment), furnitu

housing. It has also been used for recreational purposes (games like sepak raga

Southeast Asia (Plate 1) and the Basque pelota) and simple forms of musical

ments; in addition baskets have formed part of ritual.

Basketmaking is virtually a universal craft, many of its forms and techn

having evolved independently in different parts of the world, reflecting the m

available to the maker. For example in Southeast Asia where palm, cane (rattan

bamboo are readily available, one of the commonest techniques is plaiting. But

ing is not unique to Southeast Asia; it is used wherever suitable materials a

found, for instance birch bark in Scandinavia.

Traditionally the materials for basketry have come directly from nature. U

they were gathered from the wild or were by-products of crops grown for a differ

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mary purpose: for example straw from wheat or rice, maize husks or leaves from fruit-

bearing palms. It was relatively rare for materials to be cultivated specifically for use in

basketmaking. These traditional sources of material tended to be treated with respect as

it was important for the makers and their communities to ensure supplies.

Changes in World Basketmaking

Basketmaking is currently undergoing significant change in many countries.

Many of its traditional functions are being fulfilled by manufactured products.

Vegetables, fruit and fish which used to go into baskets (fish and small animals were

sometimes even trapped in them) now go straight into other types of container. Baskets

have ceased to function as official measures in Britain: the bushels used in hop and

apple picking, pecks for peas and beans and crans for herrings have been superseded. In

rich countries in particular, baskets are no longer widely used to transport produce to

markets nor to display it; they have been supplanted first by wooden and cardboard

boxes, then by plastic containers. Shopping baskets have more or less given way to

paper or plastic carrier bags. One way or another, baskets have been marginalised.

In poor countries baskets aie still used in day to day living, more or less as they

always have been. Their functions, forms and techniques remain virtually unchanged. The

materials and methods of gathering them have also changed little, although gathering may

now take place on a large commercial scale. This is the case with cane (rattan: a creeping

jungle palm) in Southeast Asia and the Philippines. But even in those countries where bas-

ketry is still used in traditional ways it is being affected by the spread of "new" non-tradi-

tional materials: plastic, cardboard and metals. Paradoxically, many of the new materials

derive from precisely those industries that are undermining the traditional uses of basketry.

Industrialisation and/or commercialisation, urbanisation and the destruction of

rural lifestyles and habitats (through deforestation, irrigation projects or dam building,

for example) have constricted the supply of traditional materials and distanced many
basketmakers from them.

Under pressure from these factors, basketry techniques are being extended and

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adapted to new materials.

There are four major basketry techniques which occur in various forms around

the world: coiling, plaiting, stake and strand and twining.

Coiling is often found in dry areas with sparse vegetation, for example in many

parts of Africa and in the Southwest of the United States (but also on the Northwest

Coast of the United States and Canada and in parts of Southeast Asia). By stitching

and wrapping a core element (for example bundles of short, dry wiry grasses or straw,

or single lengths of cane) the basket spirals upwards from a central point at the base,

the coils being held in place by the stitching material (for example softer, more pliable

grasses, straw or split palm leaves) to form a basket. Coiled baskets can be so densely

made that they are capable of holding water: the materials swell up when wet, making

the basket even more watertight. The technique naturally lends itself to round and

oval shapes with gently curving and flowing sides.

The coiled baskets in Plates 2-5 are all from South Africa. Plate 2 is made from

a core of grasses stitched with split ilala palm leaves. Plate 3 has a core of natural

material but has been stitched with plastic packing tape split into narrow widths to give

a manageable stitching material. Similarly Plate 4 has a natural core but has been fine-

ly stitched with thin strands of unravelled plastic cabbage sacks. Both result in solid,

durable baskets. Plate S is made entirely of manufactured material: telephone wire.

The packing tape and telephone wire have been used partly as an alternative to

ilala palm which is in short supply (Katzenellenbogen, pers. comm.), but also because

the makers recognise the potential of "new" materials as a substitute for traditional

ones. The three "modern" baskets probably derive from the imbenge basket (Plate 2)

traditionally used as a cover for clay beer pots (Grossert 1978:7, 17-18;
Katzenellenbogen, this volume).

The basket in Plate 6 which has a bundle of grasses in the core and is wrapped

and stitched with strips of coloured plastic carrier bags, is cruder than those in Plates

2-5. Firstly, because of the coiling technique used - far more wraps around the core in

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relation to fewer stitches - its structure is weak in contrast to Plate 4 for example,

which is very finely worked and appears to be all stitches with few if any wraps.

Secondly, it is very different in scale and detail. Although these two baskets are

roughly the same size, the core diameter of Plate 4 is under S mm and the stitching

materials are only 1-2 mm wide, compared to the core diameter of Plate 6 which is

nearly 10 mm and the strips of carrier bags used for wrapping and stitching which are

5-10 mm wide. These two factors combined with the slippery surface of the carrier

bags make Plate 6 weak structurally. Its "patterning" is also cruder, resulting from

randomly selected bags printed with different colours and logos, in contrast to Plate 4

where a strong two-colour design has been worked.

Another example of new materials being used in coiled baskets comes from

Syria (Plate 7). These baskets, which decorate the walls of a restaurant in Oxford, were

bought from a street seller in Damascus. The core, as is traditional, is a bundle of

straw-like material. In some of the baskets the stitching material, a coloured plastic

tubing flattened to give a strand 2-3mm wide, has been combined with the traditional

dyed and natural straw, whereas in others it has totally replaced the traditional material.

The sizes, shapes, designs and patterning are almost identical to those of the traditional

baskets but the colours used are very different, not the muted shades of dyed straw but

the strong, bright, "primary" colours of the plastic tubing. I was told by the manager

that these baskets are made by farm workers who come into Damascus during the low

fanning season and find plastic easier to obtain than straw. I was also told that the bas-

kets take 20-30 minutes to make!

Plaiting uses material that is, or can be made into, long straight, ribbon-like

strips: for example palm leaves, split cane, bamboo, birch bark and rushes. In plaited

basketry there is no distinction between the warp and weft elements and the same strips

of material that are used to weave the base also form the sides of the basket. Another

characteristic is that where a basket begins with a square or rectangular base, it will

always be rounded at the top. Plate 8 shows a betel basket from Indonesia (see Barnes,

this volume). It has been made from palm, the whole basket being made up of five parts

(including the lid) which all fit together. The outer basket is woven using a simple "over

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Plate 1 Ball for playing the game of sepak raga. This example, of plaited cane (rat-
tan) is from Indonesia. Dia: 150 mm. Author's collection. Photograph by Helena
Cleary.

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Plate 2 South African beer pot cover, imbenge, with core of grasses stitched with
split ilala palm leaves. H: 80 mm; dia: 230 mm. Author's collection. Photograph by
Helena Cleary.

Plate 3 South African coiled basket with core of natural material stitched with plastic
packing tape. H: 85 mm; dia: 2SS mm. Shuna Rendei collection. Photograph by
Helena Cleary.

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Plate 4 South African coiled basket with core of natural material stitched with
strands of unravelled plastic cabbage sacks. H: 100 mm; dia: 255 mm. Shuna Rendei
collection. Photograph by Helena Geary.

Plate 5 South African coiled basket made entirely of telephone wire. H: 75 mm;
dia: 180 mm. Shuna Rendei collection. Photograph by Helena Cleary.

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Plateo South African
coiled basket with core of
grasses stitched with
strips of coloured plastic
carrier bags. Private col-
lection. Photograph by
Helena Cleary.

Plate 7 Coiled basket from Damascus, Syria, with core of straw-like material
stitched with coloured plastic tubing. Dia c. 700 mm. Al Shami restaurant, Oxford.
Photograph by Polly Pollock.

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Plate 8 Indonesian betel basket, plaited from palm. All the parts fit together. L: 160
mm; W: 100 mm; H: 85 mm (when closed). Author's collection. Photograph by
Helena Cleary.

Plate 9 Plaited baskets. Right: Portuguese, plastic packing tape. H: 255 mm; L:
170 mm. Centre: Chinese, plastic. H: 660 mm; L: 440 mm. Left: India, plastic. H:
280 mm; L: 220 mm. Author's collection. Photograph by Helena Cleary.

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Plate 10 Polish stake and strand willow basket. H 490 mm; L: 290 mm; W: 185
mm. Author's collection. Photograph by Helena Geary.

Plate 1 1 Polish potato basket from the Tatra mountains. Brown willow, split willow
and hazel. H: 365 mm; L: 440 mm; W: 350 mm. Author's collection. Photograph
by Helena Cleary.

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one, under one" plaiting technique (often known as "bias plaiting" because the sides are

worked on the bias or diagonal: the weaving elements travel at a 45° angle to the base).

The inner sections arc woven from the same material, but using a technique known as

"checkweave", which although similar in appearance to plaiting, is in fact technically

more like stake and strand (see below) in that additional elements arc introduced to

weave the sides, which travel at a 90° angle to the base.

Plate 9 shows baskets using similar techniques but made from non-traditional

materials, in this case plastic. The example on the right is from Portugal: it is made

from packing tape and the technique is checkweave. The basket on the left is from

China and is made from strips of another kind of plastic, worked in a simple bias plait,

with handles of a tubular plait similar to that used in Amazonian cassava squeezers.

The central example, from India, is made from plastic of yet a different type. This bas-

ket is made in a very open checkweave which allows for additional elements to be

worked in, creating the "interlocked" effect. (This technique is also used for baskets

made from split cane and palm.)

In these examples the traditional technique has been slightly adapted to take

account of the different characteristics of plastic (for example its shinier, more slip-

pery surface) and the materials are fulfilling an unexpected purpose, but the product is

recognisably similar both in form and construction to the traditional basket in Plate 8.

Stake and strand describes the two essential components of the technique:
vertical "stakes" around which are worked horizontal "strands" known as weavers.

The materials used need to be rigid: for example cane and bamboo in Asia, or willow,

one of the materials most commonly used in Europe, which provides the long, taper-

ing, rigid elements with few or no side shoots particularly suited to this technique.

The stakes are generally quite far apart and it is a combination of the rigidity of the

material and the weaves used which supports the structure.

Plates 10 and 1 1 are from Poland. The shopping basket in Plate 10 is made of

buff willow (boiled with the bark still on, then stripped). Plate 11, from the Tatra

mountains in southern Poland, is made of brown willow (with the bark left on), split

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willow and hazel. This type of basket, which comes in several sizes, is used when har-

vesting potatoes.

Plate 12, from Zimbabwe, is also made using the stake and strand technique. It

is made out of the steel radiais from melted car tyres. The vertical stakes are particu-

larly far apart because the material used for both stakes and weavers is so rigid.

Plate 13 shows a basket from India, used for carrying stones on building sites.

For every other stake the traditional material, split bamboo, has been replaced by

strips of strong metal packing tape.

Twining is in some ways similar to stake and strand in that the technique uses

vertical stakes and horizontal weavers. However it is different in two respects: firstly,

the materials used are soft rather than rigid, for example sisal, jute, cedar root, soft

grasses or straw; secondly, the density of weave is much greater, since the stakes are

very much closer together. The structure produced can be similar in quality, appearance

and texture to a woven fabric; the fineness of the weave allows for detailed colour

and/or textura] patterning.

All the rattles in Plate 14 are from Africa, probably Mali. The left and central

examples are twined from finely split palm leaf which is attached to a gourd base:

small stones, dried pulses or grains provide the sound. The rattle on the right is an

interesting example of recycled material being incorporated into basketry: the end of a

tin can has been used to replace the gourd. Not only is this an ingenious use for part of

an old tin can, but it also produces a different sound.

Plates 15 and 16 show two twined baskets, kiondo, from Kenya. Plate 15 is

made from spun sisal and is quite flexible. Plate 16 is made using exactly the same

technique but with polypropylene string which, because it is suffer than sisal, causes

the basket to retain its shape when empty.

Hiere are other, less common, basketry techniques, some of which overlap with

textiles: knotting and netting; knotless netting; simple and complex linking; simple,

double, and figure-of-eight looping; where non-traditional materials are also being used.

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Plate 17 shows an example of a bilum basket/bag from Papua New Guinea made from

polypropylene string. The material traditionally used is a type of plant fibre, plied to

produce a cordage similar in thickness to the polypropylene. It is hard to say whether

this particular basket, like the kiondo in Plate 16, is made from recycled polypropylene

string or not. However it is quite possible that at some stage a basketmaker experiment-

ed with odd lengths of polypropylene string, found it worked well as an alternative to

plant fibre and was pleasing in other ways - due to its strength, durability and possibly

even its "modem" appearance - and continued to use it (see also MacKenzie 1991:53).

Plate 17 is in the Pitt Rivers Museum where there are other examples of this type, made

from traditional materials.

Recycled materials are being used partly through necessity (decreased access

to traditional materials) and partly for opportunistic reasons: the increasing availabili-

ty of man-made alternatives. But there is also a strong element of curiosity and inge-

nuity in this choice. This is in the true spirit of basketmaking. Basketmakers have

always recognised the potential of unfamiliar materials and transformed them into

artefacts whose designs have developed and been refined over centuries.

I have seen a basket from Sarawak made from an old aerosol or fizzy drinks

can (this is apparent from the deep domed base of the can). The top of the can has

been removed and the sides slit downwards vertically to just above the base giving 60-

70 thin strips. These have then been twisted gently (which gives a streamer-like

effect), folded outwards and then brought together in pairs to form petal shapes

around the base, finally being folded tightly together at the tip to secure the ends.

These "petals" are formed in three layers, some of the strands of the petals interweav-

ing with each other. Although the method of making this object does not fall within

any specific technique it does nevertheless have a strong basket feel about it: its form

and construction bear a resemblance to willow baskets with "Madeira" borders.

Although in some ways delicate, it could also serve a practical purpose: to hold
sweets, nuts or other small objects.

Hie metal baskets from India in Plate 18 are particularly interesting because they are

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made from truly recycled (as opposed to reclaimed) materials, namely melted down and

extruded aluminium drinks cans. The extruded metal wire is woven using several tech-

niques: the basket on the left is stake and strand throughout, whereas in the right-hand exam-

ple the base of the basket is stake and strand, the sides are simple linking and the bolder is

formed from a bundle of thinner metal wire which is bound on to the top edge of the sides.

The type of basket in Plate 19 is representative of a style now being made by

some men of the Tohono O'Odham (Papago) tribe in southern Arizona. It is also

made from metal wire: usually baling wire, sometimes copper wire or coathangers.

The method of construction, similar in style to Tohono O'Odham "lacework" baskets

made of agave fibre cordage, is a simple looping technique and the rigidity of the

material maintains the "open" structure (Bell 1988).

The final examples in this section (Plate 20) are interesting partly because of the

material used, telephone wire, but especially because of the unusual technique

(Katzenellenbogen, this volume). This has similarities with some forms of linking and

was devised by a Zulu nightwatchman who wanted to make something from the tele-

phone wire he found lying around. The baskets are worked over a mould - often a metal

lampshade - from the rim downwards to the centre of the base. Many strands of brightly

coloured wire are systematically twisted one around another - working either to the left

or to the right - and the basket is built up in rows. This technique produces densely

woven baskets with a smooth surface and dramatic swirling colour patterns; the direc-

tion of the swirls can be altered by changing the direction of working. Changing direc-

tion on every row results in less dramatic colour patterns but gives an interesting texture

similar in appearance to "plain" knitting.

Changes in rich countries

Basketmaking in the rich industrial countries declined rapidly after the Second

World War as other kinds of container came on to the market. In Britain for example

the area planted with basket willow, the main indigenous basketry material, fell from

6,000 acres in 1925 to just over 2,000 acres in 1953 (Stott 1956:1).

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Plate 12 Stake and strand basket from Zimbabwe, made from the steel radiais of car
tyres. H: 205 mm; dia: 265 mm. Shuna Rendei collection. Photograph by Helena
Cleary.

Plate 13 Indian basket for carrying stones on building sites. For every other stake the
bamboo has been replaced by metal packing tape. H:115 mm; dia: 300 mm. Shuna
Rendei collection. Photograph by Helena Cleary.

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Plate 14 Twined rattles, probably from Mali. Left and centre: made from palm leaf
attached to a gourd base and filled with small stones, pulses or grains. Right: base
made of a tin can. H: c. 120 mm. Author's collection. Photograph by Helena Cleary.

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Plate 15 Twined basket, kiondo,
from Kenya, of sisal with leather
handle. H (exe. handles): 280 mm;
W: 420 mm. Author's collection.
Photo- graph by Helena Geary.

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Plate 17 Bilum from Papua
New Guinea, made of poly-
propylene string. Max W: 480
mm. Pitt Rivers Museum,
University of Oxford, 1992.4.6.
Photograph by Polly Pollock.

Plate 18 Baskets from India, made of melted down and extruded aluminium meta
drinks cans. Left: L: 515 mm; W: 375 mm; H: 51 mm. Right: L: 350 mm; W: 160
mm; H: 90 mm. Private collection. Photograph by Helena Cleary.

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Plate 19 Copper wire basket by Norman Mike, Tohono O'Odham, Southern Arizona.
H: 43 mm; dia: 290 mm. Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, 1991.35.2.
Photograph by Malcolm Osman. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum.

Plate 20 Zulu baskets of telephone wire, South Africa. Left: H: 65 mm; dia: 220
mm. Right: H: 80 mm; dia: 225 mm. Author's collection. Photograph by Helena
Cleary.

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Plate 21 Dish with pebbles, by Dail Behennah. Palouii cane, dyed telephone wire
and pebbles. Plaited, twined, coiled and lashed. 360 x 360 x 10 mm. Photograph by
Huntley Hedworth. Copyright Dail Behennah 1992.

Plate 22 Basket of cardboard boxes, by Polly Pollock. H: 450 mm; L: 650 m; W:

420 mm. Author's collection. Photograph by Helena Cleary.

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 In recent years however these countries have experienced a noticeable revival

of interest. Enrolment in basketmaking courses, for example those at the London

Guildhall University, seems to be increasing, as is membership of the (British)

Basketmakers1 Association; more books on basketry are being published (e.g. Butcher

1986; Larsen 1986; Rossbach 1986; Walpole 1989); more exhibitions on historical

and contemporary basketry are being mounted. Magazine stylists seldom create a

room nowadays without including at least one basket.

There are a number of elements in this revival. One is a reaction against the

bland, homogenised, mass-produced output of modern industry and the way of life asso-

ciated with it. This reaction leads to an appreciation of individually-crafted articles in

much the same way as William Morris and other members of the Arts and Crafts

Movement valued and promoted handmade products at the end of the nineteenth century.

Associated with this reaction is the desire among a growing number of people

to break with their assigned status as consumers by making rather than buying things.

In basketmaking this desire is sometimes expressed by people involving themselves

fully in all stages of the process, from growing and harvesting their own willow or

gathering hedgerow materials, through to weaving baskets for use and/or sale.

Sometimes it takes the form of people using basketmaking as "art" for personal

expression. Sometimes the two merge into each other.

Another element in this renewed interest is the appeal of imported products

from poor "exotic" countries: not only are they different, made by hand (and cheap)

but also they are often intriguing: toys made from scraps of old wire, kitchen utensils

from tin cans, baskets from carrier bags and so on. Their appeal is greatest where they

are made of recognisable materials. It is the appeal of resourcefulness and imagina-

tion, suggesting that there is a person behind the product, even though that person is

anonymous. There is also the implicit moral attractiveness of an activity that does

something, however small, to stem the tide of waste that is polluting our environment.

In the rich countries basketmakers are not governed by necessity in selecting

materials. They may be somewhat restricted in their choice of indigenous natural

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materials, but they are usually in a position to obtain imported ones.

A further element in the recent western revival of interest is the shift that has

taken place in basketry to the art end of the craft-art continuum. Until recently bas-

ketry was not used as a medium to explore creative self-expression and this is still

largely the case today in most western countries. In France and Germany for example,

national schools of basketmaking perpetuate traditions which tend to produce uniformi-

ty in design. However, particularly in the USA and the UK, there is a growing number

of people - some with a background in basketmaking, others with an art/design back-

ground and others completely new to the craft - who experiment with new materials

and forms within traditional techniques and who are exploring the way techniques
influence these new materials and vice versa. This often results in "one-off baskets or

baskets made in limited editions. These makers can be recognised from their work. The

baskets of Lois Walpole, Dail Behennah, Shuna Rendei, John Galloway, Hilary Burns,

Maggie Henton, Alex Bury and the author are all clearly different from each other;

they are also identifiable as being each individual's work.

These makers are either using traditional materials in non-traditional ways, for

example the indigo and chemical dyes used by John Galloway for his strongly individ-

ual willow baskets; or non-traditional materials like the metal wire that Hilary Burns

uses to weave small, intricate baskets, often combining basketry and textile techniques.

Dail Behennah is combining palouti (a thin variety of cane with the inner bark left on)

with telephone wire in plaited and coiled baskets and incorporating "found" objects like

shells and small pebbles from the beach (Plate 21). For many of my own baskets I

collect cardboard boxes from supermarkets which I recycle into baskets. I paint the

flattened boxes with bold colours and patterns, then cut them into strips to weave into

strong durable forms, often large storage baskets with lids (Plate 22).

The British basketmaker most famous for her work with recycled materials is

Lois Walpole (Walpole 1989). She uses a huge variety of recycled materials in her

baskets: tins, beer cans, corks, wire, fruitjuice cartons, plastic bottles, slide mounts,

washing-up liquid bottle tops, electrical wire, cardboard, packing tape, old rope, bits

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of typewriter ribbon spools - the list is endless. She uses these materials in a wide

range of basketry and textile techniques to construct baskets ranging from small deli-

cate bowls to enormous three-tiered baskets ten feet tall.

None of this is new in principle. Basketmakers have always explored new

materials and expressed themselves through their work. There is, for example, a basket

in the Pitt Rivers Museum (1941.8.309), 80-100 years old, which is made from news-

papers. I have a basket in my collection made from old cigarette packets which is at

least 30-40 years old (Plate 23). But in the last ten years or so the idea of working with

recycled materials has become part of a conscious statement for a significant number of

makers. These basketmakers who value the concept and the visual impact of their

work as much as, if not more than, its practical use are significant even if still few in

number. Most basketmakers in the world are still governed by the market: they make

what sells. Production in South Africa of baskets made by members of the Imbenge

project has grown to meet large orders especially from Britain and North America

(Katzenellenbogen, this volume). Most basketmakers in Britain still produce the tradi-

tional baskets that have a proven market. But the balance is gradually tipping: basket-

making as personal expression can now be seen, if only as a speck on the horizon.

By a happy coincidence, this broadening of horizons for some relatively privi-

leged basketmakers and craftspeople has coincided with a growth in environmental

concerns in the West, which has biased their choice of materials towards the use of

recyclable by-products of industry. In poor countries ordinary basketmakers are being

puDed by market forces towards new, more accessible industrial materials. One thing

seems reasonably certain: whatever the changes in the basketmaker's environment,

basketmaking techniques will adapt and survive.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following people for their assistance in the production
of this paper Dail Behennah, Andrew and Mary Butcher, Jackie Hall, Mike Kidron,
Linda Mowat and Shuna Rendei.

23

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Notes

1 . Polly Pollock is a basketmaker and freelance basketry teacher and has a large
collection of baskets from around the world. She also teaches part-time on the bas-
ketry courses at London Guildhall University.

2. A lot of basketry information is passed on orally so it is often hard to give

specific references. I would be interested to receive any comments, corrections or fur-
ther information. Address: 221 Portobello Road, London Wll 1LU.

References

Barnes, R. This volume. 'South-East Asian Basketry1. Journal of Museum

Ethnography.
Bell, J. 1988. Tohono O'Odham Wire Baskets'. American Indian Art Vol. 13.4.
Butcher, M. 1986. Willow Work.. Leicester: Dryad Press.
Grossert, J.W. 1978. Zulu Crafts. Pietennaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter.
Katzenellenbogen, T. This volume. 'Imbenge'. Journal of Museum Ethnography.
Larsen, J.L. with B. Freudenheim. 1986. Interlacing - The Elemental Fabric. Tokyo,
New York & San Francisco: Kodansha International.
MacKenzie, M.A. 1991. Androgynous Objects: String Bags and Gender in Central
New Guinea. Reading: Harwood Academic Publishers.
Rossbach, E. 1986. The Nature of Basketry. West Chester, Pennsylvania: Schiffer
Publishing.
Stott, K.G. 1956. 'Cultivation and Uses of Basket Willows'. Quarterly Journal of
Forestry, April.
Walpole, L. 1989. Creative Basketmaking. London: Collins.

Plate 23 Basket, probably English, made of cigarette boxes (packets of ten). L: 280
mm; W: 220 mm; H: 140 mm. Author's collection. Photograph by Helena Cleary.

24

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