Silver Blue & Ficelle Round Basket HANDMADE AFRICAN BASKET from RWANDA Our bestselling basket size adds a small pop of texture to any tabletop, desk, counter, or wall space.
This incredibly versatile Fair Trade bowl can transform any wall in your home when paired with other bowels or plates for a vibrant and curated look. A hand stitched loop is on the back of each Rwanda basket so that you can instantly enjoy this piece of ready to hang wall art.
DESIGN TIPS
- We recommend matching your small woven basket with color coordinated, pillows, throws or decorative accessories in your living room.
- Place it on any bookshelf, or table.
- Use in your home office as desk organizer.
- Use as jewelry holder in your bedroom.
- Use as a catch-all for keys in your entry.
- Use for fruit and snacks in the kitchen.
Baskets handwoven by women across rural East Africa: Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Each basket is carefully handwoven by a female artisan over the course of days.
Being handcrafted, as with all artisan produced items, they will vary slightly in size and color. This is an inherent characteristic and it's uniqueness is desirable, not a defect.
MATERIAL: Woven Straw
ORIGIN: Rwanda, Africa from a Fair Trade Weaving Collective
DIMENSIONS: 6" L x 6" W x 2.5" H
FACTS & HISTORY: Traditional fibers used in basketry reflect the local habitat. They include illala palm, sisal leaves and fiber, raffia (African bamboo), fibrous tree and plant roots such as makenge, vines, leaves (banana and fan palm), cane, bark wood and papyrus.
Two types of vegetative fiber are normally used to make a coiled basket, one for the inner coil and one for the wrapping of the coils. For example, in Uganda and Rwanda, baskets are woven from raffia or papyrus wrapped and stitched around a coil of banana leaf stems. Grass is often used for the core of the coils.
Historically, baskets have been used for agricultural practices such as winnowing and sifting, the collecting and carrying of crops, as well as portage of produce to markets.
Not only does it continue to play an integral part in modern community life but it has evolved to a highly expressive contemporary art form.
African basketry is a dynamic craft, altered by social changes and shaped by both environmental and economic factors. Traditionally, shapes and weaves were determined largely by the uses for what the baskets were intended.
Nowadays, while the methods of basket making are still held in regard, the materials have significantly changed from natural fibers to include man-made creations like plastic, wire and recycled products.
