Basketry

Basketmaking in South Carolina reflects the blending of Native American, European and African traditions to create two predominate types of baskets - the coiled baskets of the Lowcountry and woven baskets of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge. Native Americans used river cane to plait baskets, mats and fish traps. Europeans maintained Old World techniques and forms, adapting them to new materials like white oak to weave their harvest baskets and clothes hampers. On the coast, enslaved Africans brought their knowledge of rice production and introduced coiled basketry using local sweetgrass, bulrush, palmetto, and pine needles. Today, traditional basketmakers have adapted their forms to a changing market and most baskets are made for decorative use.

Content is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

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Louise White's Photos | Digital Traditions

Basketmaker from Awendaw, SC (Charleston County). White is one of several basketmakers who operates a stand to sell her baskets on Highway 17 north of Charleston. White judges a basket by how well its...

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Grades

Higher Education

Leroy Browne's Photos | Digital Traditions

Resident of St. Helena Island, SC (Beaufort County). His father, George Brown, taught basketmaking at the Penn School on St. Helena Island in the early 20th Century. The school was founded in the...

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Higher Education

Franklyn De Loach Photos | Digital Traditions

Split-oak basketmaker from Varnville, SC (Hampton County).

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Higher Education

Gale McKinley Photos | Digital Traditions

Gale McKinley learned to make fish baskets by watching her father and grandfather. Her dad, Juby McKinley, is seventy-three years old, and he learned split-oak basket making from his dad, Amos...

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Higher Education

Florence Mazyck's Photos | Digital Traditions

Basketmaker from Mt. Pleasant, SC (Charleston County).

Basketmaking Materials | Digital Traditions
- Episode 1 Basket Design | Digital Traditions 2

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Grades

Higher Education

Basket Design | Digital Traditions

Episode 2

Snype and Washington discuss the innovations in sweetgrass basket design and the progression through various basket types. Video is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

Basketmaking Materials | Digital Traditions 1

Video

Grades

Higher Education

Basketmaking Materials | Digital Traditions

Episode 1

Snype and Eartha Lee Washington find more value and meaning in using the traditional sweetgrass than the more widely available bulrush. Video is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South...