Ne-Do-Ba (Friends)
Exploring & Sharing the Wabanaki History of
Interior New England
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Peter Emmett's Baskets
& Basket Making Tools
Page Created Apr-2008
Peter's Baskets
Key to the Baskets in the photo above
- large open work basket for garden or shopping - ash
- oval fancy basket with cow-wiss weave - ash
- writing paper box with cow-wiss weave - ash
- square fancy basket with cow-wiss weave, unusual style - ash
- yarn or tatting basket - ash & sweetgrass
- small square fancy basket with cow-wiss weave - ash
- bread basket, satin lined
- small oval fancy basket with cow-wiss weave - ash
- large wall pocket with cow-wiss weave - ash
- pin cushion with cow-wiss weave - ash
- perhaps a whisky/wine glass basket - ash & sweetgrass
- scissors basket - ash
- small round fancy basket with cow-wiss weave rim - ash
- basket lace - ash
- drum basket/purse, unusual style with handle - ash & sweetgrass
- cylindrical fancy basket - ash
- 2 small round baskets unfinished - ash
- decorative wall hanging - ash & sweetgrass
Peter's Basket Making Materials & Tools
Key to the Tools in the Photo Above
- wood blocks, used as forms for shaping baskets
- gauge block, holds gauges for sizing ash splints
- splint plane, to scrape and smoothing the splints
- wooden hand tools
- sweetgrass braid
- basket stuff - ash splints
Key to the Tools in the Photo Above
- wooden hand tools
- taper vise tool, used to taper standards on round baskets and covers
- crooked knife with wide blade, used to plane and smooth splints
- perhaps draw knives ?
- basket stuff - ash splints
- sweetgrass
- gauge block, holds gauges for sizing ash splints
- large assortment of gauges, used to regulate splint widths
Ne-Do-Ba Comment - - - These photos were taken by members of the Warsaw Historical Society of Warsaw, New York and are used here with their permission. The baskets and tools were donated to the Historical Society by Peter's grandchildren, Lilian and Edward Williams, in the mid 1950s and were on display at one time. The items had been placed in storage and forgotten about for many years, until Pauline Angevine Matthews found mention of the display in an old news-clipping and encouraged current society members to locate the items. Ne-Do-Ba and the Wabanaki community are grateful this wonderful collection of Abenaki basketry has been preserved for future generations to view.
Please contact us if you have additional information or corrections concerning the items above or their use. We are not basket makers ourselves, so we don't have first hand knowledge of the subject. The information presented here comes from three sources; Abenaki Basketry by Gaby Pelletier, A Key into the Language of Woodsplint Baskets, and a little personal knowledge acquired over the years.
- Learn More:
- Peter Emmett - Biography
