According to Coakley, these baskets are constructed from sweetgrass, palmetto, pine needles and bulrush. Originally, they were made from bulrush (rush) and palms, two of the primary materials most often employed in traditional coiled basketry.
What are the Gullah baskets made out of?
The most commonly used materials are sweetgrass, palmetto leaves, longleaf pine needles and a marsh grass called black rush. “Fannah” or fanner baskets made this way were used to process rice on the plantations. A person would fan rice by tossing it in the air to separate the chaff from the hull.
What were baskets made out of in South Carolina?
The exquisitely-fashioned baskets are a Lowcountry tradition—an American art with African origins. When West African slaves were brought to South Carolina, they brought with them the tradition of weaving baskets from grass with them.
What was special about the sweetgrass baskets?
One thing that makes sweetgrass baskets special is that they aren’t made with typical weaving techniques like plaiting or twisting, which are common in other parts of the world. Instead, Gullah artists employ the West African tradition of coiling. Dried sweetgrass is bundled together and coiled in circles.
What material are baskets made out of?
A basket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stiff fibers and 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.
How much do sweetgrass baskets cost?
Simple baskets start around $40. For the collector seeking a rarity, the price can reach upwards of $8,000.
What grass is used for sweetgrass baskets?
bulrush
Originally crafted by West African slaves brought to South Carolina in the 1600s, sweetgrass baskets were first made of bulrush, a tough marsh grass well-suited for heavy use. Today, the baskets are considered works of art and are often displayed in homes throughout the South.
Is Seagrass the same as sweetgrass?
Sweetgrass is a grass growing above the ground and is native to North America and Eurasia; the material is dried to be woven into baskets. Seagrass is a marine life grass that grows completely underwater in salty water shallow water areas.
What grass is used for baskets?
Kauna grass that once grew wild in the wetlands of Imphal, is the raw material used to weave baskets for local use.
How long does it take to weave a sweetgrass basket?
roughly 40-60 hours
It takes roughly 40-60 hours to make one basket, depending on how complicated the design. When you factor in designs with handles, tops and “elephant ears”—sweetgrass molded like a ribbon on the outside of the basket— it’s well over a week of hard handiwork.
Why do the Gullah make sweetgrass baskets?
Today they are considered works of art. However, the Gullah-Geechee ancestors used baskets for more practical purposes — for storing food, toting things like crops from the fields, and for fanning rice, flipping the grains into the air so that the husk could be carried away with the wind.
Which of the following is the best material used in basket?
Grass, bamboo, reeds, vines, and honeysuckle plants are the best basket weaving materials. Always dry the materials before you start weaving them together.
How long do woven baskets last?
Baskets can last indefinitely if stored in a moderate environement. Not too dry (not in an attic) and not too wet (not in a humid area). Reed, however, has its limitations. The only way to find out if your stored reed is useable for weaving baskets is to soak it for 15 minutes and try it out.
What is the most common type of basket?
A decorative basket may be made of straw, rush, vine, wood or fabric, among many other materials. A picnic basket is one of the most common types of basket. Another kind is functional. Perhaps one of the best known of this type is the picnic basket.
What does sweetgrass smell like?
Everywhere it grows it is prized. The thing that makes sweetgrass sweet is coumarin, a naturally occurring aromachemical that in its pure form has a scent somewhere between vanilla and warm hay. As the grass dries, the scent of coumarin becomes more pronounced.
How do you make a sweetgrass basket?
Tear a saw palmetto leaf into long strips about 1/4 inch wide. Take a bundle of the sweetgrass fiber and align the ends of the fibers at one end of the bundle. Wrap one of the palm leaf strands around the end of the bundle and then fold the bundle back on itself. This is the beginning of the bottom of the basket.
What is braided sweet grass used for?
People are attracted by the sight as much as by the scent of “wacanga” (Lakota) or sweetgrass braids. They are often used for smudging and their sweet smell is said to please ALL the spirits.
How do you clean a sweetgrass basket?
Because the grasses used in these baskets come from swamps and marsh areas, water will not hurt them. To clean, gently spray the basket with cold water. Then, thoroughly air dry. This is the only care required.
Where does sweetgrass grow in the US?
Sweetgrass is native to both northern North America and Eurasia. In North America its extensive range traverses the northern regions from Alaska to Newfoundland, down to New England, across the Great Lakes region and the upper Midwest to Oregon, and into the Southwest.
Where can I find sweetgrass in the wild?
Where can I find it? Although Sweetgrass is typically associated with Prairie landscapes, it is a plant that can exist across North America and Northern Europe below the Arctic Circle. In North America it grows regionally from Labrador to Alaska and south to Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Arizona, New Jersey and Washington.
What is sweet grass in South Carolina?
Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes), a long-bladed grass restricted to the coast of the southeastern United States, grows in clumps along the second dune line of the beach, in the boundaries between marshes and woods, and in wet savannahs.