Cottage Shaped Basket with handle cute and functional! Fill with flowers and use as a centerpiece or statement decor item.
MATERIAL: Rattan
DIMENSIONS: 8" L x 7" D x 11" H
FACTS & HISTORY: Rattan arrives as long poles with a sturdy outer layer, so first, the poles are cut into smaller and more manageable pieces. Then, the bark is scraped off. This is what ultimately makes cane products, so the bark is cut into strips and used for weaving.
The skinned rattan is then cut into either flat strips or thin wires. This depends on the desired pattern to be used for weaving. Some of the rattan pieces are reserved to carve out a frame for the item that needs to be made.
Once the rattan is cut into uniform strips, they’re dried under the sun or simply air-dried before being soaked in water. This process makes the strips more malleable and thus, easier to bend and weave with.
Then, based on the frame, each strip is taken and woven till it produces the desired shape and size. The craftsmen spend around one to four days working on a single project. The actual time for a project depends on the weaver. If they weave too tightly, they will require more time to finish.
Once the weaving process is complete, the item is painted and sealed with lacquer to make it water-resistant.
