Handwoven African Drum Basket, Small Deep midnight blue and ivory make this basket a stunning and useful one-of-a-kind piece of art and accessory for your home. The drum shape is a practical and visually appealing way to add texture, color, warmth and storage to any tabletop, desk, counter or wall space.
Comes in 3 sizes, Small, Medium and Large. Each is available separately.
Melissa's Tip & Tricks - We recommend coordinating your woven basket with pillows, throws or other decorative accessories in your living room. Place it on any bookshelf, or table, use in your home office as desk organizer, a catch-all for keys etc. in your entry or the most incredibly stylish mini rubbish bin.
Baskets handwoven by women across rural Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, East Africa. Each basket is carefully handwoven by a female artisan over the course of days.
MATERIAL: Woven Straw made from Bamboo, Palm and Sisal, Natural Dyes
*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
ORIGIN: Rwanda, from a Fair Trade Weaving Collective
DIMENSIONS: 4" DIA x 4" H
CARE & MAINTAINENCE: We reccomend dry brush or gently vacuum regularly, wipe clean with damp cloth as needed. Keep out of direct sunlight as natural dyes may fade over time.
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 and 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.
