Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Basket: honeysuckle, vase

  • wcu_craft_revival-6010.jpg
  • This undated basket was made by Cherokee basket weaver Lucy George. The basket is honeysuckle woven over white oak splints. The basket shape begins with a small square base and was woven upward and outward in the round. The vase then necks in and flares out again at the rim. Vase baskets became popular in the 20th century in response to the tourist trade. The honeysuckle appears to be dyed with walnut to yield the brown color and bloodroot, which makes a pale orange. Both plants, used by Cherokee basket weavers to make dye, are 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.