Basketry

Step-by-step instructions for more than 40 projects.

Profusely illustrated authoritative classic gives history and geography of baskets, detailed advice on basket design, materials, techniques, care, and step-by-step instructions. 294 illustrations, including 12 in color on the covers.

Baskets made of baleen, the fibrous substance found in the mouths of plankton-eating whales�a malleable and durable material that once had commercial uses equivalent to those of plastics today�were first created by Alaska Natives in the early years of the twentieth century. Because they were made for the tourist trade, they were initially disdained by scholars and collectors, but today they have joined other art forms as a highly prized symbol of native identity. Baskets of exquisite workmanship, often topped with fanciful ivory carvings, have been created for almost a century, contributing significantly to the livelihood of their makers in the Arctic villages of Barrow, Point Hope, Wainwright, and Point Lay, Alaska. Baleen Basketry of the North Alaskan Eskimo, originally published in 1983, was the first book on this unusual basket form. In this completely redesigned edition, it remains the most informative work on baleen baskets, covering their history, characteristics, and construction, as well as profiling their makers. Illustrations of the basketmakers at work and line drawings showing the methods of construction are a charming addition to this book, which belongs in the library of all those with an interest in the art of basketry and in Alaskan Native arts in general.

The origins of basketry are lost in the mists of prehistory, but making baskets is certainly one of the oldest and most nearly universal crafts of mankind. In the Americas, basket artifacts found in caves in Utah have been dated at 7000 B.C., while twined baskets said to be at least 5,000 years old have been uncovered in Peru. In the American Southwest, an entire Indian culture (ca. 100–700 A.D.) is known as "Basket Maker" because of the distinctive baskets it produced. This exhaustive survey (two volumes in one) of American Indian basketry, perhaps the finest book ever published on the subject, documents basketmaking throughout the Americas — in Eastern North America, Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, Western Canada, Oregon, California and the Interior Basin, as well as Mexico, Central and South America. Spanning a wide range of indigenous cultures (Aleutian, Tlinkit, Shoshonean, Athapascam, etc.), the detailed, carefully researched discussions in this book offer a wealth of information about woven and coiled basketry, watertight basketry, materials, basketmaking techniques and preparation, ornamentation and symbolism, as well as the uses of baskets as receptacles, in preparing and serving food, for gleaning and milling, in mortuary customs, in religion and social life, in trapping, carrying water, and in many other areas of Indian life. An interesting and informative chapter on collectors and collections and the preservation of baskets, followed by a helpful biography, rounds out the book. In addition, the author, once Curator of Ethnology at the U.S. National Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution), enhanced this encyclopedic study with over 450 excellent photographs and illustrations. For collectors, preservationists, anthropologists, students of crafts and culture, modern basketmakers, this is an indispensable reference — a massively rich source of information about baskets, the peoples who made them, how they were made, and their role in native American life and culture.

Through a series of easy to follow step by step projects, this book will teach you the fundamental skills and techniques as used in many every-day baskets. Clear instructions and more than 280 photos and diagrams will guide you through every aspect. Projects include 'your first basket', a simple bowl; a log basket; a garden trug; a potato basket; and a foraging basket.This book is designed for the beginner. Everything you need to know is covered, including guidance on sourcing the willow either from a specialist grower, or the countryside."Basketry is a rewarding craft. Being able to take some humble sticks and weave them together into a beautiful and functional item is extremely satisfying. Even after weaving hundreds of baskets, I still get a 'buzz' when finishing a new creation. The satisfaction doesn't stop there either, using your hand-made baskets for jobs such as picking berries or gathering produce from your garden, is a joyful thing." Jonathan RidgeonNote: The full range of projects are those pictured on the cover.

Everything there is to know about traditional Native American basket weaving. Native American basket weaving is an intricate and powerful art, representative of the legends and ceremonies of the Indian nations and their cultures. George Wharton James’s Indian Basketry is an invaluable aid for the artist, designer, craftsman, or beginner who wants to recreate authentic and often extinct basket forms and decorative motifs of the Native American peoples. Filled with 355 illustrations and photographs of Native American basket weavers taken at the turn of the twentieth century, this pioneering study—first published in 1901—provides in-depth information about specific aspects of Indian basketry, including: • Its role in legend and ceremony • The origins of forms and designs • Materials and colors used • Weaves and stitches • The symbolism and poetry woven into each basket • Preservation • Tips for the collector • And much more! From Yolo ceremonial baskets to Oraibi sacred trays, Indian Basketry traces the origin, development, and fundamental principles of the basket designs of the major Indian tribes of the southwestern United States and Pacific Coast, along with comments on the basket weaving of a number of other North American tribes.

Most complete survey of Indian basket-making describes uses of baskets, their role in ceremony, origins of designs, materials and colors, weaves and stitches, plus full how-to instructions. 355 illustrations.