Recent additions to the collection
Bannock baskets in the Madeira style
Go to many museums on mainland Scotland, and there are always one or two examples of these ubiquitous baskets, often, but not always, made in the Madeira style described by Liz Balfour in our blog (Oct 2015). They are usually
[read more...]Museums in the East region
Arbroath Signal Tower Museum Leith Customs House Museum, Edinburgh Scottish Fisheries Museum, Anstruther
[read more...]An Eriskay creel
Eriskay is a small island off the tip of South Uist, Outer Hebrides. Lise Bech and Kate Sankey made two creels reconstructed from an original Eriskay creel. This creel was a 20 stake creel and had a simple mouthwale start as
[read more...]
Author Archives: julie
Cubbies
In Orkney small baskets called cubbies were made from heather or sometimes softer materials like straw and rush were used. Alisdair Davidson describes making a heather cubbie by starting with the base with pairs of rods (of heather) which become …Continue reading “Cubbies”
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Landing Baskets
On the Isle of Arran in the 80’s and 90’s Alisdair Davidson along with Henry Mellor had a contract to make Landing Baskets for the docks at Grimsby. They often made up to fifty a month. These baskets were made …Continue reading “Landing Baskets”
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Willow, horse harnesses and a gaelic saying
Sometimes languages have sayings in them that originate from past times when life was different. Apparently the gaelic language has such a saying originating from when horses were used for transport and their harnesses were made from willow ‘Is …Continue reading “Willow, horse harnesses and a gaelic saying”
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Pitlessie Fair Horse Paniers
In the bottom left corner of the painting ‘Pitlessie Fair’ by David Wilkie are some horse panniers which were used to carry china to the fair. The painting itself is in the National Galleries of Scotland and was painted …Continue reading “Pitlessie Fair Horse Paniers”
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‘How to Make’ Handouts by Alisdair Davidson
Alisdair Davidson spent several years making replicas of traditional Scottish Baskets. Here are some of the handouts he used when teaching others the techniques for frame baskets and back creels
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A conversation with Alisdair Davidson on Making Replicas of 13th Century Coiled Baskets
An archeological dig in Perth High Street from 1975 to 1977 uncovered remnants of several small round coiled baskets. They were dated late 13th Century and made with a core of straw or willow and split or skeined willow for …Continue reading “A conversation with Alisdair Davidson on Making Replicas of 13th Century Coiled Baskets”
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The Oldest Basket In Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland has in its archives the remains of a basket which was found preserved in a bog in Eshaness in Shetland. It has been dated as being around 1500yrs old and is thought to be …Continue reading “The Oldest Basket In Scotland”
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Alisdair Davidson
Alisdair Davidson is a basketmaker who spent several years in the 1990’s researching baskets in Scotland and has helped us considerably with the research for this project. Originally from Kilbarchan, he worked as a toolmaker in Glasgow before moving …Continue reading “Alisdair Davidson”
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Isle of Arran Heritage Museum
Last week I spent a day at Isle of Arran Heritage museum to see what I could find out about the use of baskets on Arran, where I live, and also to see what basketry items they had in their …Continue reading “Isle of Arran Heritage Museum”
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Kishies
Kishie Materials There are basically only two functions required of kishie making materials: The first material must be suitable to twine into a rope that has a suitable combination of strength and durability whilst still retaining a pliable quality. …Continue reading “Kishies”
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