11″ x 14″ x 10″
Carved, whittled, woven, rib work construction; hand-split white oak
This basket is headed to the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of a gift from Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole.
I had some exceptional help on this one. Leona Waddell is considered among the finest white oak basket makers in the country. (Read more about Leona by clicking on the Baskets with Heart page, top right column.) At age 83, she may yet to have reached her prime as a basket maker.
Scott Gilbert and Beth Hester, my basketry mentors, introduced me to Leona a few years ago. And I waited a long time and completed more than a few ambitious baskets, before asking if she would work with me on this project.
It’s based on an Appalachian style known as a Gizzard basket that allows you to carry eggs and other fragile goods safely over the back of a horse to market, or riding snugly against your hip when walking. The round-ribbed and lobed shape were unfamiliar to Leona, but she gladly shared her secrets for a tight fine weave, which begins at the wrap where the handle and rim join. Then I was off on a process that involved many hours of scraping, cutting, and weaving splits.
i would like to know more about leona li ke where she lives and where i might buy one of her baskets.my mother made white oak baskets for many years,traded them for groceries for us kids during the depressiopn i have a rather large collection of hers and others baskets.sincerely ….marshall taylor
150 keltner road campbellsville ky 42718////phone 270 465 7732
By: marshal;l taylor on August 14, 2010
at 8:23 pm
Marshall,
I’ll be happy to get you in touch with Leona, and will give you a call. She’s one of the premier white oak basket makers and lives in the Mammoth Cave area of Kentucky. Read more about her by clicking the tab at the top of the page, “Baskets with Heart.”
~~Billy Ray
By: billyrsims on August 15, 2010
at 7:41 am