| Title | Left-handed sweetgrass fruit basket |
| Date | circa 1988 |
| Material Type | Gathering basket
|
| Creator | Coakley, Julia
|
| Description | Coiled, oblong fruit basket with cross handle made of sweetgrass, bulrush, and pine needle, sewn with palmetto leaf. This basket was created by a left-handed artist, visually evident by the slant of the palmetto leaf wraps. The wraps in a right-handed basket typically slant to the left, while the wraps in this basket slant to the right. |
| Dimensions | Length: 32.5 cm; Width: 24 cm; Height: 12.5 cm. |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Sweetgrass baskets -- South Carolina -- Charleston County
Basket making -- South Carolina
Grasswork
African American art -- South Carolina -- 20th century
|
| Geographic Region | Southern States
South Atlantic States
South Carolina
|
| SC Region | Low Country
|
| SC County | Charleston County (S.C.)
|
| Collector | Avery Research Center
|
| Collection in Repository | Sweetgrass Basket Collection
|
| Collection Note | The Avery Sweetgrass Basket Collection holds significant modern examples of a centuries-old craft. Following African traditions, baskets of coiled grasses were originally produced by slaves on Lowcountry plantations for agricultural use. Over time, sweetgrass baskets have become artistic expressions that retain the African aesthetic -- a symbol of African American culture and a signature of the Lowcountry region. Alongside the baskets, the Avery Research Center has gathered visual and oral histories of the modern basketmakers and their families. |
| Call Number | 2007.012.001 |
| Holding Institution | Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston
|
| Digital Collection | Avery Research Center Artifact Collection
|
| Rights | Digital image copyright 2009, The College of Charleston Libraries. All rights reserved. For more information contact The College of Charleston Library, Charleston, SC 29424. |
| Media Type | Objects |
