Woven Legacies: Innovation & Tradition
Timed Online Auction, 2 - 24 February 2025
Vintage baskets from southern Africa: The collection of Dr Elizabeth Terry
About the SessionThis selection of vintage baskets comes from the collection of Dr.Elizabeth Terry, a social scientist with a special interest in craft development. It marks a historic moment, being the first time a collection of this kind has come to market. Originating from Southern and Central Africa, these baskets demonstrate how everyday objects—once used for practical purposes like storing food, sifting grain, and carrying goods—transform over time into cultural artifacts and works of art.
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About this Item
Notes
This 50-year-old basket is made with undyed Hypheane palm leaves using only an overstitch to create the pattern. Importantly, the overstitch makes the basket stronger, which is necessary for carrying the mahangu (pearl millet) from the fields after harvesting. Grain is refined at two stages after harvest: sifting after threshing and winnowing after pounding or grinding. After threshing, a woman typically sifts standing up, using a medium-sized flared basket. Grain is gently poured from the flared basket into a larger open basket on the ground, allowing the chaff to blow away with the wind as it falls. After pounding, winnowing is done while sitting. Three different-sized baskets are used. Pounded grain in the winnowing basket is rhythmically tossed into the air using a vertical flicking motion of the wrists. Grain falls back into a basket like this one, while the chaff is blown away in the breeze.
- Dr Elizabeth Terry
Provenance
Dr Elizabeth Terry Collection.
View all Unrecorded artist, Mbukushu Peoples lots for sale in this auction
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