Woven of Wood-East Tennessee Baskets, 1880-1940

While in Tennessee this past week, we took a day trip
to Knoxville and stopped by the Museum Of East
Tennessee History to see the current display of
Appalachian baskets.  

The baskets below were HUGE!

 

White oak is the basket making material most

widely used in the Central Appalachian Mountains.....

Trees best suited for basket timber are small, from

four to eight inches at the base, approximately

twenty to thirty years old, with straight, smooth,

light grey bark and with no visible knots or

blemishes for four to six feet up the trunk.  Such

trees are likely to be the straightest and healthiest

white oaks in the forest.  

Law and Taylor

Appalachian  White Oak Basketmaking

  The perfect white oak is nearly always found to be 

growing in mature forests on the north side of 

mountain slopes.  Its struggle for light induces it

to grow straight up, and it does not waste it's energy

putting out side shoots until it reaches a safe height.

Susan H. Stephenson

Basketry of the Appalachian Mountains

The basket below is a lidded lunch basket.

I loved the photos of the basket makers.

This tiny basket is in the photo above also.

White oak baskets are still made here in the Ozarks.  Many

of our earliest settlers came from Tennessee and Kentucky,

bringing their skills and traditions with them.  I thoroughly

enjoyed this amazing exhibit, I hope you enjoyed the 

photos.

(Now, I really must make Lucy some petticoats!)