Alaska Basketry

V. V. Cavana

Description

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781528761857
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Alaska Basketry
BY
V. V. CAVANA

1917
Copyright 2013 Read Books Ltd.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Contents
Basket Making
Introduction
Alaska Basketry
Basket Making
A basket is a container traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, which can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints, runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such as horsehair, baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are generally woven by hand. While basket weaving is one of the widest spread crafts in the history of any human civilization, it is hard to say just how old the craft is because natural materials like wood, grass, and animal remains decay naturally and constantly. Native Americans have been especially renowned for their basket-weaving techniques, used as trade-goods, but also for religious ceremonies. But without proper preservation, much of the history of basket making has been lost and now, can be merely speculated upon.
The oldest known baskets have been carbon dated to between 10,000 and 12,000 years old, earlier than any established dates for archaeological finds of pottery, and were discovered in Faiyum in upper Egypt. Other baskets have been discovered in the Middle East that are up to 7,000 years old.
The most common evidence of knowledge of basketry is an imprint of the weave on fragments of clay pots, formed by packing clay on the walls of the basket and firing. More recently, we have much better evidence of basket use - as during the industrial revolution, baskets were used in factories, and for packing deliveries. Wicker furniture more broadly was very popular in Victorian society, as woven pieces became fashionable with the upper-class and as a status symbol. Weaving further took off during the two World Wars, with thousands of baskets used for transporting messenger pigeons. There were also observational balloon baskets, baskets for shell cases and airborne pannier baskets used for dropping supplies of ammunition and food to the troops.
Basketry can be broadly categorised into four types:
1. Coiled Basketry - using grasses and rushes.
2. Plaiting Basketry - using materials that are wide and braid-like: palms, yucca or New Zealand flax.
3. Twining Basketry - using materials from roots and tree bark. Twining actually refers to a weaving technique where two or more flexible weaving elements cross each other as they weave through stiffer radial spokes.
4. Wicker, or Splint Basketry - using reed, cane, willow, oak and ash.
Weaving with rattan core (also known as reed) is one of the more popular techniques, largely because it is readily available. It is pliable and when woven correctly, very sturdy. Also, while traditional materials like oak, hickory, and willow might be hard to come by, reed is plentiful and can be cut into any size or shape that might be needed for a pattern. This includes flat reed, which is used for most square baskets; oval reed which is used for many round baskets; and round reed which is used to twine. Another advantage is that reed can also be dyed easily, to look like oak or hickory. The type of baskets that reed is used for are generally referred to as wicker baskets, although twining is also a technique used in most wicker baskets. These baskets can be used to store beer, goods, grain, and even in some sacrificing tribes, the heads of the sacrifice.
Today, accomplished basket makers are far and few between, the art having been relegated to a seldom-practiced, yet artisan past-time. Machinery and the industrial revolution have contributed to this decline, although a lessening in demand (i.e., other, chemical processes of making containers) has also contributed. Over time though, the skills of basket making have been used for functions as diverse as fish traps, matting, cooking pots, rucksacks, boats and even houses. In the UK, The Worshipful Company of Basketmakers exists to protect the trade; one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. It was constituted in 1569, and received its Royal Charter in 1937. The company s motto is: Let us love one another and it aims to be an inclusive, friendly and diverse organisation, effectively supporting the ancient craft of basket making, with all its historic traditions. We hope this book encourages the current reader to start basket-weaving themselves! Enjoy.

From the Collection of the Author
D AVID S TARR J ORDAN , Honorary F REDERICK W OODWARD S KIFF C HARLES H ARTSON L EADBETTER J OHN R AYMOND W ESTERVELT J OHN F ONERDEN W ORCESTER D EAN C OLLINS E DWARD S AMUEL R EYNOLDS H OWARD V AUGHN F ISHER G EORGE M ARTIN A LLEN C HARLES S IMPSON W EST J OHN T YUS H OTCHKISS R OBERT A UDREY M ILLER
Introduction
Declaring itself to the public through this, its first publication, the Beaver Club seeks to place itself in that group of idealists that not only believes in dreams, but also believes that by patient, sincere and reverent effort, dreams may be made to come true.
There is a dream that many have held and toward the realization of which many have labored-and it is the dream of a thing made glorious through the patient, perceiving labor of those who produce it. To such a vision, and to the manifold works that have been done in the striving towards its realization, the world owes the most of whatever it can boast which is, beyond all else, rare and lovely and infinitely to be desired.
In its present and future work, the Beaver Club hopes to add, from Oregon, from the Pacific Northwest, a distinctive and valuable contribution to humanity s store of things rare and beautiful and, as nearly as possible, perfect. The perfection sought is not the infinitely reduplicated perfection that comes through the infallible accuracy of machines, but the perfection that comes through conscious and zealous artistic effort of persons inspired by a desire to attain to a high and sweet ideal.
The books of the Beaver Club possibly may never come to be loved and sought after because they are the most beautiful of their kind in the world; but the Beaver Club hopes to make them appreciatively beautiful to the world because their production is to the Club, above everything else, a labor of profound love.
It is in keeping with the spirit of the Club that its first publication should be Miss Cavana