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WCU - Craft Revival

Basket: honeysuckle, lidded

  • wcu_craft_revival-6025.jpg
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  • This undated basket was made by Cherokee basket weaver Lucy George. The storage basket is honeysuckle woven over white oak ribs. The woven lid, with wrapped handle, fits over the base. Traditionally, storage baskets were made to store domestic goods, from dry foodstuffs to clothing. The natural aeration of the weave allows the stored goods to remain dry. The honeysuckle was dyed with walnut to produce the brown colored bands, with bloodroot to make orange, and with yellowroot to make the bright yellow. All three plants, used by Cherokee basket weavers to make dye, are native to the region. This basket won a first place ribbon in 1975. 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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