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A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibre
Fiber

Fiber or fibre is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of yarn. They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissue s together....
s, often made of willow
Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
. . The top is either left open or the basket may be fitted with a lid.

lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m1487021",this)' onMouseout='hide("m1487021")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Wood">Wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
, bamboo
Bamboo

The bamboos are a group of woody perennial plant evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae....
, wheat
Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, other grass
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
es, rush
Juncaceae

The Juncaceae, the rush family, is a rather small monocotyledon flowering plant family. There are 8 genus and about 400 species. Many of these slow-growing plants superficially resemble Poaceae, though are herbs or Shrub, growing on infertile soils....
es, twig
Twig

Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away....
s, osiers, flax, or wicker
Wicker

Wicker is hard woven fiber formed into a rigid material, usually used for baskets or furniture. Wicker is often made of material of plant origin, but plastic fibers are also used....
 are often used to make baskets.






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Baskets Four Styles
A basket is a container which is traditionally constructed from stiff fibre
Fiber

Fiber or fibre is a class of materials that are continuous filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of yarn. They are very important in the biology of both plants and animals, for holding tissue s together....
s, often made of willow
Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
. . The top is either left open or the basket may be fitted with a lid.

Historical usage

Wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
, bamboo
Bamboo

The bamboos are a group of woody perennial plant evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae....
, wheat
Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, other grass
Poaceae

Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
es, rush
Juncaceae

The Juncaceae, the rush family, is a rather small monocotyledon flowering plant family. There are 8 genus and about 400 species. Many of these slow-growing plants superficially resemble Poaceae, though are herbs or Shrub, growing on infertile soils....
es, twig
Twig

Twigs are critically important in identification of trees, shrubs and vines, especially in wintertime. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away....
s, osiers, flax, or wicker
Wicker

Wicker is hard woven fiber formed into a rigid material, usually used for baskets or furniture. Wicker is often made of material of plant origin, but plastic fibers are also used....
 are often used to make baskets. These items can also made today from plastic
Plastic

Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic chemistry solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products....
. The first baskets were woven by gatherers to collect fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s, grain
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
s, nut
Nut (fruit)

Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seed or fruit of some plant. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts....
s, and other edible plant materials, as well as for holding fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
 by early fishing
Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
 humans. A creel
Creel (basket)

Creel is a type of small wicker or osier basket. A creel is mostly used as a fishing basket, holding fish or other seafood catches . Another type of creel is the sod Creel....
 is a basket made especially to hold fish.

The plant life available in a region affects the choice of material, which in turn influences the weaving technique. Rattan
Rattan

Rattan , is the name for the roughly 600 species of Arecaceae in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia....
 and other members of the Arecaceae
Arecaceae

Palm or Palmae or Panamea , the palm family, is a family of flowering plants belonging to the Monocotyledon order, Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known Genus with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropics, subtropics, and warm temperate climates....
 or palm tree family, the thin grasses of temperate regions, and broad-leaved tropical bromeliads each require a different method of twisting and braiding to be made into an effective basket.

Although baskets were traditionally created to serve a utilitarian rather than an aesthetic purpose, the practice of basket making has evolved into an art
Art

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature....
. Artistic freedom allows basket makers a wide choice of colors, material
Material

Materials are substances or components with certain physical properties which are used as inputs to Production, costs, and pricing or manufacturing....
s, sizes, patterns, and details. Archaeological sites in the Middle East show that weaving techniques were used to make mats and possibly also baskets, circa 8 000 BC. Baskets made with several interwoven techniques were common at 3 000 BC.

The carrying of a basket on the head, particularly by rural women, has long been practiced. Representations of this in Ancient Greek art are called Canephorae.

Overturned woven baskets are used drummed by the Tohono O'odham
Tohono O'odham

File:Carlos Rios - Papago.jpgThe Tohono O'odham, also known as the Papago, are a group of Native Americans in the United States who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico....
 to accompany song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
s (Zepeda 1995, p.89).

Modern usage

In modern usage, baskets are chosen chiefly for decorative purposes.

Easter
Easter

Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christianity liturgical year.Christians believe that Jesus was Resurrection of Jesus from the dead three days after his Crucifixion of Jesus, and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday , two days after Good Friday....
 baskets are used to collect or hold treats for Easter. These baskets are normally made of plastic (not woven) and have a weave-like pattern imprinted.

Gift baskets are used to present items such as fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
, wine
Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
, and flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s. Some baskets are used to cradle bottles of red wine to assist pouring.

Baskets made out of crystal glass
Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
 are manufactured both for decorative and utility purposes.

Hot air balloon
Hot air balloon

The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-Fran?ois Pil?tre de Rozier and Fran?ois Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers....
s are equipped with baskets for carrying the operator and passengers.

As a demonstration of contortionism, a basket containing a human may be repeatedly pierced with sword
Sword

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used as a cutting, thrusting, and clubbing weapon in many civilizations throughout the world. The word sword comes from the Old English language wikt:sweord, cognate to Old High German swert, Middle Dutch swaert, Old Norse sver? Old Frisian and Old Saxon swerd and Dutch langua...
s. The human survives through skill in avoiding the swords.

Baskets are also used in dishwashers.

Figurative and literary usage

The phrase "to hell in a handbasket
To hell in a handbasket

"Going to Hell in a handbasket" or "Going to hell in a handcart" is an English alliteration phrase of unclear origin, which describes a situation headed for disaster without effort or in great haste....
" means to rapidly deteriorate. The origin of this use is unclear.

Gallery


See also

  • Basket weaving
    Basket weaving

    Basket weaving is the process of weaving unspun vegetable fibers into a basket or other similar form.Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials?anything that will bend and form a shape....
  • Canephorae
  • Weaving
    Weaving

    Weaving is the textile arts in which two distinct sets of yarn, called the Warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a textile....


External links



Source

  • Zepeda, Ofelia (1995). Ocean Power: Poems from the Desert. ISBN 0816515417.