- Also called:
- slave basket
- Related Topics:
- Basketry
Sweetgrass basket
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What is a sweetgrass basket?
A sweetgrass basket is a type of basket made from sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes), a fragrant perennial grass that smells like freshly mowed hay. This art form originated in West Africa centuries ago and is still practiced today in the United States, primarily in the Low Country of South Carolina, by descendants of West African slaves. These artisans were brought to coastal South Carolina during the early 18th century to work on rice plantations.
Initially, slaves crafted baskets for dry goods storage and rice winnowing, using needlegrass rush coiled and sewn together with white oak bark or saw palmetto. Today, sweetgrass is combined with needlegrass rush and longleaf pine needles, sewn with palmetto leaf, to create colorful designs. The materials were collected by men, while women made the baskets, passing down the technique through generations.
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What material is used to make sweetgrass baskets?
Sweetgrass baskets are made using sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes), which has a fresh-hay-like scent. Enslaved Africans, who were taken from the rice kingdoms of West Africa to coastal South Carolina in the early 18th century, originally made these baskets for storage. Today, sweetgrass basket makers also use needlegrass rush and longleaf pine needles, sewing these together with palmetto leaf. They create appealing designs without dyes by alternating the natural colors of the dried sweetgrass (yellowish green), needlegrass rush (reddish brown-black), and longleaf pine needles (green). The tools required are generally scissors and sewing bones.
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Where did the tradition of making sweetgrass baskets begin?
The tradition of making sweetgrass baskets originated centuries ago in West Africa. Enslaved Africans, primarily from the rice kingdoms of West Africa, were brought to coastal South Carolina during the early 18th century. They continued their basket-making traditions, using a sewing technique to create coiled baskets for storage and agricultural purposes.
Today, this art form is mainly practiced in the Low Country of South Carolina by the descendants of these West African slaves, many of whom are members of the Gullah community. The craft has been passed down through generations, with contemporary baskets bearing a notable resemblance to those made in West Africa.
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What special techniques are used in sweetgrass basket weaving?
Sweetgrass baskets are made using a coiled sewing technique rather than braiding. Long ropes of needlegrass rush are coiled on top of one another and held together with strips of white oak bark or saw palmetto. Today, basket makers use sweetgrass with needlegrass rush and longleaf pine needles, sewing these with palmetto leaf. They create designs without dyes by alternating the natural colors of the dried sweetgrass, needlegrass rush, and longleaf pine needles. The tools required are scissors and sewing bones (filed-down teaspoon handles) or nail bones (flattened nails or rib bones), which are used to tuck the palmetto around the coils. The technique has been handed down for generations, and the baskets made today bear a notable resemblance to those made in West Africa.
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How do sweetgrass baskets reflect the culture of the people who make them?
Sweetgrass baskets reflect the culture of the Gullah people, descendants of West African slaves in the Low Country of South Carolina, who maintain traditional West African practices. Enslaved Africans brought basket-making techniques from the rice kingdoms of West Africa to South Carolina in the 18th century. Originally used for storage and winnowing rice, the baskets are now made using sweetgrass, needlegrass rush, and longleaf pine needles, sewn with palmetto leaf. The techniques have been passed down through generations, and the baskets made today still bear a notable resemblance to those made in West Africa, representing one of the oldest African American art forms.
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How are sweetgrass baskets used today, and why are they important?
Today, sweetgrass baskets, an art form with origins in West Africa, are still made by descendants of West African slaves in the United States, mainly in South Carolina. These coiled baskets are made using sweetgrass (a fragrant perennial grass), needlegrass rush, and longleaf pine needles, sewn together with palmetto leaf.
Sweetgrass baskets are important because they are one of the oldest African American art forms, and the technique has been passed down through generations for over 300 years. Many contemporary basket makers are members of the Gullah community, descendants of former slaves who established themselves on the Sea Islands off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia.
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Sweetgrass basket, type of basket made of sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes), so called because it smells like freshly mowed hay. The art of the sweetgrass coiled basket, born in West Africa centuries ago, is still practiced in the United States in the 21st century, chiefly in the Low Country of South Carolina, by the descendents of West African slaves.
Slavers took Africans from the rice kingdoms of the west coast of Africa to coastal South Carolina during the early 18th century. There, in addition to working the rice plantations, slaves made baskets, generally for the storage of dry goods, though some of the baskets were so tightly woven that they could be used to store liquids. Flat baskets called “fanners” were used in the winnowing of rice. Once the rice was harvested and pounded in a pestle with a mortar, a fanner was used to toss it upward into the wind, which blew away the husk, or chaff.
Among slaves, baskets were made by using a sewing technique rather than a plaiting or braiding technique. Long ropes of needlegrass rush (Juncus roemerianus; called bulrush, rushel, or needlegrass) were coiled, one on top of the other, and the coils were held together with strips of white oak bark or saw palmetto. Today makers prefer to use sweetgrass with needlegrass rush and longleaf pine needles (Pinus palustris), sewing these with palmetto leaf (Sabal palmetto), and they produce pleasing designs without dyes by alternating the natural colours of the dried yellowish green sweetgrass, reddish brown-black needlegrass rush, and green longleaf pine needles. The only tools required for basket production were scissors and “sewing bones”—filed down teaspoon handles—or “nail bones” (made from flattened nails or rib bones of a cow or pig). The “bones” were used to tuck the palmetto around the coils.
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In general, men collected the materials, which women made into baskets. Depending on its size and function, a single basket could take weeks or even months to make. The basket-making technique was handed down from mother to daughter and remained very much the same for more than 300 years. Baskets made today in South Carolina bear a notable resemblance to those made in West Africa.
Many of the contemporary basket makers are members of the Gullah community, a group descended from former slaves who established themselves on the Sea Islands off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. The numbers of producers are dwindling, however, and materials are growing difficult to find.
Sweetgrass baskets are one of the oldest African American art forms. Those made by Mary Jackson, who won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 1993 and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 2008, showed her to be foremost among the artists creating sweetgrass baskets in the early 21st century.