Western Carolina University WCU University of North Carolina Asheville UNCA

Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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WCU - Craft Revival

Basket: rivercane, storage

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  • This storage basket was made by Lottie Queen Stamper, one of Cherokee’s best-known basket weavers. Using rivercane, the basket was woven upwards from a square base and tapers to a circular rim. Walnut hulls were used to dye the cane to achieve the dark brown color; bloodroot gave it an orange color. Its pattern is Man in a Coffin (or Man in a Casket), with “coffins” alternating along a diagonal. Born in the Soco community to Levi and Mary Queen, Lottie first learned how to make white oak and pine needle baskets from her mother. She married into a family that taught her how to make baskets from rivercane. In 1935, at the age of 28, she started making cane baskets and, in 1937, she began teaching basketmaking at the Cherokee School. Over her teaching career, Stamper taught hundreds of girls to weave baskets. While the date of this basket is not known, the time span represents the time the basket maker was active.

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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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