Baskets

This article is about the physical container. For other meanings, see Basket (disambiguation).

Four styles of household basket.

A basket is a container, often with an open top, usually made out of interwoven pieces of material. Wood, bamboo, wheat, other grasses, rushes, twigs, osiers or wicker are often used to make baskets, but they are also made today out of plastic. The first baskets were woven by gatherers to collect fruits, grains, nuts and other edible plant materials to be brought back and eaten, as well as for holding fish by early fishing peoples. A creel is a basket made especially to hold fish.

In contrast to weaving, in the making of baskets flexible fibers are interwoven with their complementary rigid fibers.

The kinds of plant life available in a region will affect an ethnic group's choices in material, as well as influencing the technique and therefore the texture of the basket. Rattan and other members of the Arecaceae or palm tree family, for instance, require a different method of twisting and braiding to be made into a basket from the thin grasses of temperate regions, as do other plants of the tropics with their characteristic broad leaves (bromeliads, for instance).

Although baskets have always been created to serve a utilitarian rather than an aesthetic purpose, the practice of basket making has evolved into an art in its own right. Artistic freedom allows basket makers a wide variety of colors, materials, sizes, patterns and details to choose from.

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Basket

Archaeological sites in the Middle East show that weaving techniques were used to make mats and possibly also baskets, circa 8 000 BC. Baskets made with several interwoven techniques were common at 3 000 BC.

The carrying of a basket on ones head, particularly by rural women, has long been practiced. Representations of this in Ancient Greek art are called Canephorae.

Gallery of baskets

The wicker basket of a hot air balloon. The balloon is taking off

A hot air balloon in flight, showing the wickerwork passenger basket

A wicker balloon basket holding 16 passengers

Basket stall, Frankfurt, Germany

See also

• Basket weaving
• Canephorae
• Weaving