On the left side are live fowl baskets. Directly to the right are flat baskets used for selling shrimp and small fish inHaikou City,Hainan Province,People's Republic of China.
Abasket is a container that is traditionally constructed from stifffibers, and can be made from a range of materials, including wood splints,runners, and cane. While most baskets are made from plant materials, other materials such ashorsehair,baleen, or metal wire can be used. Baskets are generally woven by hand. Some baskets are fitted with a lid, while others are left open on top.
Baskets serve utilitarian as well as aesthetic purposes. Some baskets are ceremonial, that is religious, in nature.[1] While baskets are usually used forharvesting, storage and transport,[2] specialized baskets are used assieves for a variety of purposes, including cooking, processing seeds or grains, tossing gambling pieces, rattles, fans,fish traps, andlaundry.
Prior to the invention of woven baskets, people usedtree bark to make simple containers. These containers could be used to transport gathered food and other items, but crumbled after only a few uses.Weaving strips of bark or other plant material to support the bark containers would be the next step, followed by entirely woven baskets. The last innovation appears to be baskets so tightly woven that they could hold water.[citation needed]
Depending on soil conditions, baskets may or may not be preserved in the archaeological record. Sites in theMiddle East show that weaving techniques were used to make mats, and possibly also baskets, circa8000 BCE.[citation needed] Twined baskets date back to 7000[1] inOasisamerica. Baskets made with interwoven techniques were common at3000 BCE.
Baskets were originally designed as multi-purpose vessels to carry and store materials and to keep stray items about the home. The plant life available in a region affects the choice of material, which in turn influences the weaving technique.Rattan and other members of theArecaceae orpalm tree family, the thin grasses of temperate regions, and broad-leaved tropicalbromeliads each require a different method of twisting and braiding to be made into a basket. The practice of basket making has evolved into anart. Artistic freedom allows basket makers a wide choice of colors, materials, sizes, patterns, and details.
The phrase "to hell in a handbasket" meansto deteriorate rapidly. The origin of this use is unclear. "Basket" is sometimes used as an adjective for a person who is born out of wedlock.[3] This occurs more commonly in British English. "Basket" also refers to a bulge in a man's crotch.[3] The word “basket” is frequently used in the colloquial “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” In this sense, the eggs are a metaphor for a chance at success, while the basket figuratively represents a single method or option.
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