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BASKET

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 484 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BASKET , a See also:

vessel made of twigs, See also:cane or rushes, as well as of a variety of other materials, interwoven together, and used for holding, protecting or carrying any commodity. The See also:process of interweaving twigs, rushes or leaves, is practised among the rudest nations of the See also:world; and as it is one of the most universal of arts, so also does it See also:rank among the most See also:ancient See also:industries, being probably the origin of all the textile arts of the world. Decorative designs in old ceramic See also:ware are derived from the marks See also:left by the basket See also:mould used before the invention of the See also:potter's See also:wheel, and in the See also:willow See also:pattern on old See also:china, and the basket capitals or See also:mouldings of See also:Byzantine See also:architecture, the See also:influence of the basketmaker's See also:art is clearly traceable. Essentially a See also:primitive See also:craft, its relative importance is in inverse ratio to the See also:industrial development of a See also:people. The word " basket " has been generally identified with the Latin bascauda, as in See also:Martial (xiv. 99) : "See also:Barbara de pictis veni bascauda Britannis: Sed me iam mavult dicere See also:Roma suam." But its See also:etymology is unknown, and the New See also:English See also:Dictionary states that there is no See also:evidence to connect basket with bascauda, which denotes rather a tub, See also:tray or brazen vessel. Among many uncivilized tribes, baskets of a See also:superior See also:order are made and applied to various useful purposes. The See also:North See also:American See also:Indians prepare strong See also:water-tight Wattape baskets from the roots of a See also:species of abies, and these they frequently adorn with very See also:pretty patterns made from the dyed quills of their native See also:porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum. Wealthy Americans have formed collections of the beautiful ware treasured as See also:heir-looms in See also:Indian families, and large prices have been paid for baskets made by the few squaws who have inherited the traditions and practice of the art, as much as £300 having been given for one specimen. It has been computed that baskets to the value of £1,000,000 were recently See also:drawn from See also:California and See also:Arizona within two years. The Indians of See also:South See also:America weave baskets equally useful from the fronds of the Carnahuba and other palms. The See also:Kaffirs and See also:Hottentots of South See also:Africa are similarly skilful in using the Ilala See also:reed and the roots of See also:plants; while the Abyssinians and the tribes of Central Africa display See also:great adroitness in the art of basket-See also:weaving.

Basket-making, however, has by no means been confined to the fabrication of those See also:

simple and useful utensils from which its name is derived. Of old, the See also:shields of soldiers were fashioned of wicker-See also:work, either See also:plain or covered with hides. See also:Xenophon, in his See also:story of the See also:Thirty Tyrants at See also:Athens, relates that the exiled Greeks who had seized on the See also:Peiraeus made themselves shields of whitened osiers; and similar weapons of See also:defence are still constructed by See also:modern savages. The huts of the earliest settlers in See also:Rome and in western See also:Europe generally were made of See also:osier work plastered with See also:clay. Some interesting remains of See also:British dwellings of this. nature found near See also:Lewes in 1877 were described by See also:Major-See also:General H.L. F. See also:Pitt-See also:Rivers in Arc/See also:tam See also:logia, vol. xlvi. pp. 456-458. Boats of the same material, covered with the skins of animals, attracted the See also:notice of the See also:Romans in See also:Britain; they seem to have been of the See also:ordinary See also:boat-shape. The basketwork boats mentioned by See also:Herodotus as being used on the See also:Tigris and See also:Euphrates were See also:round and covered with See also:bitumen. Boats of this shape are still used on these rivers, and boats of analogous construction are employed in See also:crossing the rivers of See also:India, in which the current is not rapid. Nor have methods of making much changed.

The strokes employed in the construction of basket-work found in See also:

Etruscan tombs and now exhibited in the Museo Etrusco at See also:Florence, and in similar articles discovered in See also:Egyptian tombs, are the same as those used by the English basket-maker to-See also:day. General Pitt-Rivers, on comparing the remains excavated near Lewes with a modern hamper in his See also:possession, found the method to be identical. Since about the See also:middle of the 19tt1 See also:century the See also:character of basket-work in See also:England has been greatly modified. The old English See also:cradle, reticule, and other small domestic wares, have been driven out of the See also:market by cheap goods made on the See also:continent of Europe, and the coarse See also:brown osier packing and hampers have been largely superseded by rough casks and cases made from cheap imported See also:timber. This loss has, however, been more than counterbalanced by the See also:production of work of a higher class, such as finely made chairs, tables, lounges and other articles of See also:furniture; See also:luncheon and See also:tea-baskets and similar requisites of travel. In addition to the foregoing the See also:chief categories of English manufacture are: See also:vegetable and See also:fruit baskets, transit and travelling hampers, See also:laundry and See also:linen baskets, See also:partition baskets for See also:wine, and protective wicker cases for fragile ware such as See also:glass carboys, See also:stone and other bottles. Wicker shields or cases made from cane See also:pith, for the See also:protection of shells, have been introduced by the English military authorities. Some evidence of the above-mentioned developments is afforded by a comparison of the See also:wages lists of the See also:London See also:Union of Journeymen Basketmakers issued in 1865 and in 1896. The former consists of 87 printed pages; the latter of 144 pages, and these more closely set. No machinery is used in basket-making. A considerable training and natural aptitude go to See also:form the See also:expert workman, for the ultimate perfection of shape and beauty of texture depend upon the more or less perfect conception of form in the craftsman's mind and on his See also:power to impress it on a recalcitrant material. In England at least, he rarely uses a mould; every stroke made has a permanent effect on the symmetry of the whole work and no subsequent pressure will alter it.

Wages in London vary from 25s. to 5os. per See also:

week according to aptitude. The Basketmakers' See also:Company is one of the See also:oldest craft See also:gilds of the See also:city of London and still exists. Employment is given by the London Association for the Welfare of the See also:Blind to a number of partially or wholly blind workpeople, who are engaged in the making of some of the coarser kinds of baskets; but the work, which bears obvious traces of its origin, is not commercially remunerative, and the association depends for partial support on the contributions of the charitable, and on supplementary sales of See also:fine or See also:fancy work produced under ordinary conditions and largely imported. Similar associations exist in some English provincial towns, in See also:Edinburgh, in See also:Dublin and See also:Belfast, and in certain See also:European cities. The materials which are actually employed in the construction of basket-work are numerous and varied, but it is from certain species of willow that the largest See also:supply of basket-making materials is produced. Willows for basket-work are extensively grown on the continent of Europe, whence large quantities are exported to Great Britain and the See also:United States; but no rods surpass those of English growth for their tough and leathery texture, and the finest of basket-making willows are now cultivated in England—in See also:Leicestershire, See also:Nottinghamshire and the valleys of the See also:Thames and the See also:Trent. In the See also:early See also:part of the 19th century, considerable See also:attention was given in Britain to the cultivation of willows suitable for basket-making, and the See also:industry was first stimulated by premiums offered by the Society of Arts. Mr See also:William Scaling of Basford, Notts, was a most successful grower and published some admirable See also:pamphlets on the cultivation of willows. The most extensive English willow See also:plantation or salicetum (See also:Lat. salix, willow) of the See also:present day is that planted by Mr W. P. Ellmore at Thurmaston near See also:Leicester, and consists of about 10o acres of the finest qualities. Mr Ellmore, a See also:practical basket-maker, successfully introduced some valuable See also:continental varieties (see OSIER).

Willows are roughly classed by the basket-maker into " osier " and fine." The former consists of varieties of the true osier, Salix viminalis; the latter of varieties of Salix triandra, S. purpurea and some other species and hybrids of tougher texture. For the coarsest work, dried unpeeled osiers, known as " brown stuff," are used; for finer work, " See also:

white (peeled) stuff " and " See also:buff " (willows stained a tawny See also:hue by boiling them previous to peeling). Brown stuff sorted, before it reaches the work-See also:man, into lengths varying from 31 ft. to 8 or to ft., the smallest being known in London and the See also:home counties as " See also:Luke," the largest as " great," and the intermediate sizes as " See also:long small," " threepenny " and " See also:middleboro." White and buff rods are more carefully sorted, the smallest, about 2 ft. or less, being known as " small tack," and rising sizes as " tack," " See also:short small," " small," " long small," " threepenny," " middleboro and " great." Rods of two to three years' growth, known as " sticks," are used to form the rigid framework of the bottoms and lids of square work. In every See also:case, except the last, the stuff is soaked in tanks to render it pliable before use—brown from three to seven days, white and buff from See also:half-an-See also:hour to half a day. The rods are used whole for ordinary work, but for baskets of slight and finer texture each is divided into " skains " of different degrees of See also:size. " Skains " are osiers cleft into three or four parts, by means of an See also:implement called a cleaver," which is a See also:wedge-shaped See also:tool of See also:boxwood inserted at the point or See also:top end of the See also:rod and run down through its entire length. They are next drawn through an implement resembling the See also:common spokeshave, keeping the See also:grain of the split next the See also:iron or stock of the shave, while the pith is presented to the See also:steel edge of the See also:instrument, and in order to bring the split into a shape still more See also:regular, it is passed through another implement called an upright, consisting of a See also:flat piece of steel, each end of which is fashioned into a cutting edge, like that of an ordinary See also:chisel and adjusted to the required width by means of a 'shumb• See also:screw. The tools required by a basket-maker are few and simple. They consist, besides the foregoing, of a See also:shop-See also:knife for cutting out material; a picking knife for cutting off the protruding butts and tops of the rods after the work is completed; two or three bodkins of varying sizes; a flat piece of iron somewhat narrowly triangular in shape for See also:driving the work closely together; a stout pair of See also:shears and a " See also:dog " or " See also:commander " for straightening sticks. The employer supplies a screw See also:block or See also:vice for gripping the bottom and See also:cover sticks of square work, and a lapboard on which the workman fixes the upsetted bottom while siding up the basket. This is the full See also:kit. it common round or See also:oval basket may, however, be made with no other tools than a shop-knife and a See also:bodkin. On the continent of Europe shapes or blocks are in use on which the fabric is in some cases See also:woven.

The technicalities of basket-making may be easily followed by a glance at the See also:

illustration here reproduced by the See also:courtesy of the Society of Arts.1 It will be seen that the " bye-stakes " are merely inserted in the " upsett," whereas the stakes are driven in at each See also:side of the " bottom-sticks " and pricked up to form the rigid framework of the side. When the " bottom-stick " and " stake are formed of one and the same continuous rod, it is termed a " See also:league." If the bottom is made on a hoop the butts of the stakes are " sliped," i.e. cut away with a long cut of the shop-knife, and turned tightly round the hoop; they are then said to be " scallomed " on. The chief strokes used in constructing an ordinary basket are : — the " slew "—two or more rods woven together; the " See also:rand," rods woven in singly; the " See also:fitch," two rods tightly worked alternately one under the other, employed for See also:skeleton work such as cages and See also:waste-See also:paper baskets; the " pair," two rods worked alternately one over the other, used for filling up bottoms and covers of round and oval baskets; and the " See also:wale," three or more rods worked alternately, forming a See also:string or binding course. Various forms of plaiting, roping and tracking are used for bordering off or See also:finishing. An ordinary oval basket is made by preparing the requisite number of bottom sticks, preserving their length greater than the required width of the bottom. They are ranged in pairs on the See also:floor parallel to each other at small intervals, in the direction of the longer See also:diameter of the basket, thus forming what may be called the " woof," for basket-work is literally a See also:web. These parallel rods are then crossed at right angles by two pairs of the largest osiers, on the See also:butt ends of which the workman places his feet; and they are confined in their places by being each woven alternately over and under the parallel pieces first laid down and their own butts which form the end bottom sticks. The whole now forms what is technically called the " slath," which is the See also:foundation of the basket. Next other rods are taken and ' See the See also:report of a paper by T. Okey, published in the See also:Journal of the Society of Arts, See also:January 11th, 1907. woven under and over the sticks all round the bottom until it be of sufficient size, and the woof be occupied by them. Thus the bottom or foundation on which the superstructure is to be raised is finished.

Phoenix-squares

This latter part is accomplished by sharpening the large ends of as many long and stout osiers as may be necessary to form the stakes or skeleton. These are forced between the bottom sticks from the edge towards the centre, and are turned up or " upset " in the direction of the sides; then other rods are woven in and out between each of them, until the basket is raised to the intended height, or, more correctly speaking, the See also:

depth it is to receive. The edge or border is finished by turning down the ends of the stakes, now See also:standing up, behind and in front of each other, whereby the whole is firmly and compactly united, and it is technically known as the " belly." A lid is constructed on the same See also:plan as that of the bottom, and tied on with hinges formed of See also:twisted rods; simple handles may be made by inserting similar rods by the sides of two opposite stakes and looping them under the border to form rope-like handles of three strands. This is the most simple See also:kind of basket, from which others differ only in being made with finer materials and in being more nicely executed; but in these there is considerable See also:scope for See also:taste and fancy, and articles are produced of extreme neatness and ingenuity in construction. In addition to willows many other materials are employed in the fabrication of wicker-work. Among the more important of these is the See also:stem of Calamus viminalis or other allied species—the cane or rattan of commerce—which is used whole or made into skains. Since 188o the central pith of this material, known as " cane-pulp " or " cane-pith," has been largely used in Great Britain and on the continent of Europe in the manufacture of furniture and other finer classes of work. About the same See also:period plaited See also:rush and See also:straw, often coloured, came into use together with enamelled skains of cane. It must be admitted, however, that basket-work in these developments has encroached somewhat on the domain of See also:cabinet-making; for See also:wood and nails are now much used in constructing basket-work chairs, tables and other furniture. With splits of various species of See also:bamboo the See also:Japanese and See also:Chinese manufacture baskets of unequalled beauty and finish. The bamboo wicker-work with which the Japanese sometimes encase their delicate See also:egg-See also:shell See also:porcelain is a marvellous example of manipulation, and they and the Chinese excel in the application of bamboo wicker-work to furniture. In India " Cajan " baskets are extensively made from the fronds of the See also:Palmyra See also:palm, Borassus flabelliformis, and this manufacture has been established in the See also:Black See also:Forest of See also:Germany, where it is now an important and characteristic See also:staple.

Among the other materials may be enumerated the odorous roots of the khus-khus grass, Anatherum muricatum, and the leaves of various species of screw See also:

pine, used in India and the See also:East generally. The fronds of the palm of the See also:Seychelles, Lodoicea sechellarum, are used for very delicate basket-work in those islands. Strips of the New See also:Zealand See also:flax plant, See also:Phormium tenax, are made into baskets in New Zealand. See also:Esparto fibre is used, in See also:Spain and See also:Algeria for See also:rude fruit baskets. Various species of Maranta yield basket materials in the See also:West Indies and South America; and the Tirite, a species of Calathea, a member of the order Zingiberaceae, is also employed similarly in See also:Trinidad. Baskets are also frequently made from straw, from various sedges (Cyperus), and from shavings and splints of many kinds of wood. The chief centres of English basket manufacture outside London are Thurmaston near Leicester, Basford near Notting-See also:ham, and See also:Grantham. Large but decreasing quantities of See also:light basket-work are made for the English market in See also:Verdun, in the See also:department of the See also:Aisne, and in other parts of See also:France; and great quantities of fancy and other work are produced in See also:Belgium, in the See also:Netherlands and in Germany, notably at Lichtenfels in See also:Bavaria, at Sonnefeld in See also:Saxony and in the Black Forest. The import and export values of baskets and basket-ware, and of willows and rods for basket-making, have been enumerated in the See also:Board of See also:Trade returns for the United See also:Kingdom since 1900, in which 483 See also:year basket-ware from See also:foreign countries was imported to the value of £239,402. In 1901 the imports increased to £264,183; then they declined to £227,070 in 1905. The See also:main See also:sources of supply are shown in this comparison of 1900 and 1905: 1900. 1905.

Belgium £72,031 £77,766 -1£5,735 See also:

Holland 58,214 54,407 — 3,807 France . . . 55,870 27,910 -27,960 Germany . 33,155 22,892 -10,263 See also:Japan 8,140 25,536 +17,396 See also:Portugal . 5,066 3,971 1,095 The increase from Japan (for 1904 the value was £52,377) and the decrease from France are remarkable. The import values of foreign willows increased from £52,219 in 1900 to £62,286 in 1905, the most important exporting countries being: 1900. 1905. Germany . £22,594 £34,752 +£12,158 Belgium . I8,800 11,864 — 6,936 Holland . 9,771 12,750 + 2,979 Small British re-exports of willows (£1808 in 1900 and £371 in 1905) and of baskets (£3785 in 1900 and £6633 in 1905) to foreign parts and British possessions are tabulated. No particulars of exports of British produce and manufacture are specified in the returns.

(T. O.) BASKET-See also:

BALL, a See also:game adapted to the open See also:air, but usually played upon the floor of a gymnasium and in the See also:cold See also:season. It was the invention, in 1891, of See also:James Naismith, an instructor in the gymnasium of the See also:Young Men's See also:Christian Association training-school at See also:Springfield, See also:Massachusetts. A demand had arisen for a game for the gymnasium class, which would break the monotony and take the See also:place, during the See also:winter months, of See also:football and baseball, and which was not too rough to be played indoors. The See also:idea of the game was first published in the Triangle, the school paper. It soon became one of the most popular indoor See also:games of America, for girls as well as for men, and spread to England and elsewhere. Basket-ball is played on a marked-off space 6o ft. by 40 ft. in extent, though in the open air the dimensions may be greater. In the middle of each short side and ro ft. above the floor or ground, is placed a basket consisting of a See also:net suspended from a See also:metal See also:ring 18 in. in diameter, backed, at a distance of 6 in., by a back-board 6 ft. long and 4 ft. high. The See also:object of the game is to propel an inflated, See also:leather-covered ball, 30 in. in circumference, into the opponents' basket, which is the See also:goal, by striking it with the open hands. The side wins that scores most goals during two periods of See also:play divided by an See also:interval of See also:rest. Although there is practically no limit to the number of players on each side, all indoor matches are played by teams of five, in positions opposing one another as in See also:lacrosse, centre, right and left forwards and right and left See also:guards (or backs). A See also:referee has the general supervision of the game and decides when goals have been properly scored, and an See also:umpire watches for infringements of the rules, which constitute fouls.

There are also a scorer and timekeeper. The game is started with the two opposing centres standing within a 4-See also:

foot ring in the middle of the floor. The referee puts the ball in play by tossing it into the air over the,heads of the centres, who jump into the air for its possession or endeavour to See also:bat it towards the opposing goal. From this moment the ball is in play until it falls into a basket, or passes the boundary-lines, or a foul is made. After a goal has been scored, the ball is again put in play by the referee in the centre. Should it be thrown across the boundary, a player of the opposing side, standing on the See also:line at the point where the ball went over, puts it in play by passing or throwing it to one of his own side in any direction, there being no off-side rule—another point of similarity to lacrosse. His opponents, of course, try to prevent the pass or intercept the throw, thus securing the ball themselves. When a foul has been called, a player of the opposing side is allowed a " See also:free throw " for his opponents' basket from a See also:mark 15 ft. distant from it and without interference. A goal scored from a free throw See also:counts one point; one scored while the ball is in play counts two. Hacking, striking, holding and kicking are foul, but a player may interfere with an opponent who has the ball so long as he uses one See also:arm only and does not hold. A player must throw the ball from where he gets it, no See also:running with it being allowed excepting when continuously bounding it on the floor. Basket-ball is an extremely fast game and admits of a high degree of See also:combination or team-play.

The See also:

principal qualifications of a See also:good player are quickness of See also:movement and of See also:judgment, coolness, endurance, accuracy and self-See also:control. Good dodging, throwing, passing and team-play are the important requisites of the game, which is looked upon as excellent winter training for outdoor games. Basket-ball, with somewhat modified rules, is extremely popular with young See also:women. See See also:Spalding's Basket-Ball See also:Guide; and See also:George T. Hepbron, How to Play Basket-Ball; and Spalding's Basket-Ball Guide for Women.

End of Article: BASKET

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