Deep, basin-shaped. One handle. Foundation: Thick coiled bundles of Juncus romerianus (black rush; commonly called "bulrush" or "rushel". Binder: "serenoa repens" or "saw palmetto". Split cane (?) sewing strands.
Donor:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection place:
Hilton Head Island, Beaufort County, South Carolina
Verbatim coll. place:
South Carolina; Beaufort; Hilton Head
Culture or time period:
Gullah
Collector:
Berta Bascom and William Russell Bascom
Collection date:
1939
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Baskets (containers) and Coiled weaving
Function:
1.5 Household
Accession date:
December 16, 1974
Context of use:
Rice winnowing basket; also for corn meal, etc. Carried on the head. General agricultural use; receptacle. Made by a woman for her own use and to sell to local blacks. (fide Greg Day, doctoral candidate, Rutgers University, July 1976)
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
diameter 44.5 centimeters
Comment:
Materials: "The stem is cut from this shrub palmetto, skin peeled off and split lengthwise. The pithy inside is scraped off with a knife. It is sometimes kept in fresh water to keep flexibility. This is in contrast to Mainland plantation baskets, sewn with split oak, and modern Mt. Pleasant baskets sewn with strips of palmetto leaf (sabal palmetto). Techniques: Note difference between sea island knot and mainland knot in section on techniques and tools in "Row Upon Row"." Native name and meaning: "Fanner basket". Context of use: "Width of base of fanner baskets varied to suit the user, but the wall is always 8 coils high, also in corresponding Angolan fanners." (fide Greg Day, doctoral candidate, Rutgers University, July 1976). "Made by middleaged, 50-60 yrs. negro crafts woman" "She learned to make baskets from other, older members of her family." References: Dale Rosengarten, "Row Upon Row: Sea Grass Baskets of the South Carolina Low Country", McKissick Museum; Alan Sabbour and James Harden, eds., "Folklife Annual, 1988-1989", Library of Congress. In Folklife Annual see Dale Rosengarten, "Bulrush is Silver, Sweetgrass is Gold.