SMASH THE SHELL

This was my first basket project made using diagonal twill plaiting. Process pictures and descriptions can be found in this blog post.

For Brennan & Caoilfhionn’s Ducal Challenges (Sept. 28, 2024), I wanted to make a basket inspired by historical items that would also be useful for the modern SCA context. I also wanted to try a new technique. There were a few extant pieces that caught my interest.

The first piece that inspired me was this divided basket for carrying bottles from Egypt at the Met, dated to the 2nd-3rd century CE.

I wanted to make something like this, but as I examined the photos more closely, I realized it had an inner wall and an outer wall, and that presented two problems: first, it was harder to tell how it was constructed because I could only see one face of each wall, and second, the project complexity would be much higher with more chances for things to go wrong.

I decided to keep the concept of a narrow carrying basket, thinking that perhaps it could be worn with a cross-body strap like a satchel. However, I needed to use a simpler, single-walled technique to ensure I could finish it in time for the event. So, continuing with the bottle-holder theme, I found a plaited twill container from Antinoé in the Louvre’s collection (E 30892), dated to the 8th century CE.

This container is a 3×3 twill in some kind of monocot leaf – possibly either reed or palm. However, to make a more durable “bag,” I decided to use willow bark, and I ended up using a 2×2 twill because it worked better to keep the half-inch wide strips of bark from curling up.

Because the willow bark does not fold over itself well without cracking, I sandwiched the top edge between two wider strips of bark instead of doubling them over like the top of the extant twill container.

This carrying basket is definitely an “inspired by” project rather than a recreation of any one artifact. I learned how to weave basic twill plaiting and how to do an envelope fold. I also learned about finishing oils and ended up mixing my own from ingredients I already had, since I wanted to give this a little bit of flexibility and moisture resistance in case it was carried through the rain or set down in the grass. Overall, I made a nice finished object for the prize table and learned a new basketry technique without buying anything new, so I met my goals and am very happy with the result!