|
| Coiled Gullah
Sweetgrass Basketry |
 |
Annie Scott Gullah Basketmaker
Baskets made of sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes) which is harvested in the
spring and summer by "pullers," who slip it out of its roots, like knives from
sheaths. It is a long-stemmed plant that grows near the ocean behind the dune line and
along the boundaries between marsh and forest. Weavers put fresh grasses out in the sun to
dry for several days to several weeks, depending on the season before sewing them coil
upon coil.
Annual Celebration Of Gullah Culture
The Gullah culture, a blend of West African, European and Native American
cultures, became the lifestyle of West African slaves isolated from the mainland.
The word "Gullah" is believed to be a corruption of Angola or "'Gola," the
origin point of many slaves who were brought to the Carolinas. The
Gullah remember their past and look toward the future preservation of their cultures which
is distinguished by the crafts of sweet grass basket sewing, quilt making and fish net
weaving in this annual festival.
Basket-Weaving Is Threatened in South Carolina
This news story from AP about how rapid development has negatively impacted Gullah Sweetgrass Basketry includes a
multimedia slide show that features African American basketmakers
Nakia Wigfall,
Alma Washington, Henrietta Snype and others from in
and around Charleston, Mount Pleasant and along U.S. Route 17 in SC.
Basketmakers Face Stiff Competition from Knockoffs
Charleston's sweetgrass basketmakers are finding it difficult to compete with
baskets made in China. Lowcountry sweetgrass basket "sewers" are concerned about
cheap knockoffs from abroad. The article includes tips about some of the
telltale characteristics of an import so that collectors can recognize the
difference between the two.
Grow Your Own Sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes or Muhlenbergia capillaris)
Help sustain the tradition of South Carolina Low Country basket making
by growing your own plot of sweetgrass or include some plants in your landscape.
Read why this species is so important to this historic regional basketry
style and grow your own sweetgrass with the help of this
tip sheet from the College of Charleston.
Register To Bid On eBay
Gullah Tradition
A culture in and of itself with unique customs, language and aspects composed of
the blacks of the Sea Islands and coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia and
Northeast Florida.
Harriet Bailem Brown
Sweetgrass Basket Association member and fifth generation basketmaker from Mt.
Pleasant, SC demonstrates and teaches this craft to others.
Joseph
Foreman
Brother to Mary Foreman Jackson and one of the few men preserving the art of
Sweetgrass basketry, an art that expresses the Gullah culture and heritage of
his ancestors.
History Of The Sweetgrass Basket Tradition
Filling the basket stands along highway 17 North in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
today, these coiled sweetgrass baskets have a 300 year old tradition. Using only a knife
and the handle of a spoon that has been filed down smooth to create an awl, these baskets
were sewn of core materials like sweetgrass and pine needle stitched with palmetto leave
binders.
Mae Hall
Once sold mainly from roadside stands along Route 17 North in Mt. Pleasant South
Carolina near Charleston, online ordering is now available from makers of Gullah
style coiled sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes) baskets. Longleaf pine needles are used to
decorate baskets and strips of palmetto leaves are used to stitch the coils together.
History and and plant information is included.
Mary Jackson Sweetgrass Basketmaker
Well known as a sweetgrass basketmaker and teacher of this basketry style
indigenous to the Low Country tidewaters of the American Southeast.
Mary
Vanderhorst
Several members of the Vanderhost family of Mt. Pleasant, SC make coiled Sweetgrass baskets in
the lowcountry tradition.
Muhlenbergia sericea
Family: Poaceae; Genus: Muhlenbergia, (common names; Dune Hairgrass, Purple
Muhly, Sweetgrass) the "sweetgrass" used by basketmakers in the Low Country
previously called Muhlenbergia filipes has since genetics testing by
researchers in 2003 been renamed Muhlenbergia sericia reflecting the fact
that the grasses native to two different places are different genetically.
Nakia Wigfall
Multigenerational Sweetgrass Basket-maker of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She
is the Executive Director of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina's
Sweetgrass
Cultural Arts Festival. Her work is profiled in this
online video.
 |
Row
Upon Row: Sea Grass Baskets of the SC Lowcountry
Book by Dale Rosengarten. Details sweetgrass basketmaking from its roots in Africa through
its development on the rice plantations to its current renaissance as an art form sought
after by collectors and tourists. |
Sweetgrass Cultural
Arts Festival
Held annually during June in Mt. Pleasant, SC. A weekend celebration of the
legacy of the sweetgrass basket makers of Christ Church Parish in Mount
Pleasant. The Gullah basket making tradition can be traced to West African
slaves brought to live on South Carolina lowcountry rice plantations and has
been carefully handed down from one generation to the next since their arrival.
Entertainment includes performances by local singers, dancers and drummers.
Local food vendors provide traditional Gullah delicacies.
Sweetgrass
Basketry Workshops
Classes can be scheduled for groups of twelve or more at Hopsewee Plantation in
Georgetown, SC.
Sweetgrass
Baskets Of The Lowcountry
Essay by Dennis Adams discusses the African origins of the craft of the handmade
baskets of sweetgrass that are coil-sewn with a thin continuous foundation coil of
sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes) and/or longleaf pine needles sewn spirally on itself
using strips of palmetto leaf.
Sweetgrass Baskets From The
McKissick Museum
Baskets are among the traditional folk art in the crafts collections of the
McKissick Museum in Columbia, South Carolina.
Sweetgrass: History,
Basketry and Constraints To The Industry
Essay by R.J. Dufault, M. Jackson and S.K. Salvo details the history of the
sweetgrass industry, identification of sweetgrass (Muhlenbergia filipes), sweetgrass
basket construction and the constraints on the industry caused by destruction of plant
habitat. The Mt. Pleasant Basketmakers' Association is studying the possibility of raising
sweetgrass as a row crop.
Vase With Handle Sweetgrass Basket By Mary
Jackson
Coiled sweetgrass, pine needle and palmetto basket presented by the James Renwick
Alliance.
Register To Bid On eBay
Basketry Categorized By Material Type
| 
