American Baskets - Hardcover

Presents a comprehensive overview of American basket-making's history and artistry, citing the influence of such groups as the Native Americans, Quakers, and Pennsylvania Dutch, and profiling each basket type indigenous to America. North America and a resource listing of museums, antiques dealers, and auction houses.

an Baskets is the first book to offer a comprehensive overview of an art form that is ten thousand years old. Basketmaking is the most basic of all crafts in its methods and material, and its development reflects specifically local traditions. Here, author Robert Shaw ("the information source on major U.S. crafts" -- Booklist) examines the craft's history and artistry throughout the country and through various periods.

Once among the most common of household objects, handmade baskets have a cachet that has never been equaled. Despite the fact that the American artisan basket has all but disappeared from daily use (the baskets that we have in our homes today are either made from synthetic materials, often by machine, or imported from overseas where labor is cheap), the genuine example of a handcrafted basket is highly prized as a beautiful and valuable object. Baskets are fixtures in the popular style of country decorating, and collectors search out fine antiq