A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibres, often made of willow. [1]. The top is either left open or the basket may be fitted with a lid.
The plant life available in a region affects the choice of material, which in turn influences the weaving technique. Rattan and other members of the Arecaceae or palm tree family, the thin grasses of temperate regions, and broad-leaved tropical bromeliads each require a different method of twisting and braiding to be made into a basket.
Although baskets were probably created to serve a utilitarian rather than an aesthetic purpose, the practice of basket making has evolved into an art. Artistic freedom allows basket makers a wide choice of colors, materials, sizes, patterns, and details.
Archaeological sites in the Middle East show that weaving techniques were used to make mats and possibly also baskets, circa 8 000 BC[citation needed]. Baskets made with interwoven techniques were common at 3 000 BC.
The carrying of a basket on the head, particularly by rural women, has long been practiced. Representations of this in Ancient Greek art are called Canephorae.
Overturned woven baskets are used drummed by the Tohono O'odham to accompany songs (Zepeda 1995, p. 89).
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Figurative and literary usage
The phrase "to hell in a handbasket" means to rapidly deteriorate. The origin of this use is unclear. "Basket" is sometimes used as an adjective towards a person who is born out of wedlock[citation needed]. This occurs more commonly in British English.
See also
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Basket |
Source
- Zepeda, Ofelia (1995). Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert. ISBN 0816515417.
External links
| Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Basket. |
Gallery
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A wicker balloon basket holding 16 passengers |
Basket stall, Frankfurt, Germany |
Ethiopian woman gathering coffee beans in a basket |
Old American Indian baskets, Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site |
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Seri Indian pot-shaped basket (Northern Mexico) |
Bending vines for basket construction - Ponape |
A basket in Mumbai, India |
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Inuit basket of whale baleen with a walrus ivory finial, Barrow, Alaska |
Black ash baby basket by Odawa-Ojibwe Kelly Church, Michigan |
Yurok baskets from Redwood National Park, California |
Categories: Containers | American Indian relics
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Journal Gazette and Times-Courier
Taylor was in foul trouble but then he came in to get a couple of big baskets . We always had someone hitting big shots. Nead went to the bench with his ...
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