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WCU - Craft Revival

Basket: honeysuckle, lidded

  • wcu_craft_revival-6020.jpg
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  • This undated basket was made by Cherokee basket weaver Lucy George. The basket is honeysuckle woven over white oak splints with two handles that are woven into the base. A small handled basket such as this one can be used as a purse; larger handled baskets are sometimes called shoppers. The honeysuckle was dyed with butternut to yield the brown color that runs up the side of the basket. Butternut, used by Cherokee basket weavers to make dye, is a plant native to the region. Lucy Nola George 1897-1978) was raised in the Birdtown community on the Qualla Boundary. In a departure from traditional Cherokee ways of learning, Lucy George did not learn basket making from mother. In the 1930s, as a grown woman, she learned the craft from Julia Taylor. She developed her own methods, weaving baskets from honeysuckle. She also taught others and demonstrated her craft.

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Craft Revival

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mountain craftsmen formed the cornerstone of a revived interest in things handmade to create a movement known as the Craft Revival. During the Revival...

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