Agricultural History Review, Volume 60 Part 1 (2012), p. 141

Available from Fyfield Wick Editions, The Farmhouse, Fyfield Wick, Abingdon, Oxon., ox13 5nb

Maurice Bichard’s work has to be one of the most definitive studies on basketry to date. This book will appeal not just to the basket maker but to all basket users, who may look at baskets differently after reading it, and give more respect to the craftspeople who made them.

The book reveals the seemingly countless variety of types of basket and materials used to make them. Most of us have at some time used a shopping basket, hamper or laundry basket, but we might not have been aware of their importance in the not-too-distant past, before plastics were invented. After the invention of string, basketry must have been mankind’s first essential craft. Without manipulating fibrous plants to make string they would not have been able to hold together their primitive shelters, catch food with a line or net, or just tie up prey in order to carry it home to their families. The wattle and daub prehistoric houses all over Europe were more or less big baskets and people lived in that type of house for thousands of years, so they must have been functional.

The chapter on materials best exemplifies the years of research that the author has undertaken. Whilst most people know that willow is the prime material used in basket manufacture, some might not be so aware that split oak and marsh grasses were also used for this purpose. Think of a need and someone, somewhere, seems to have made a basket to serve it. The bee baskets in Germany are just one example showing the utilization of thick insulated baskets covered with clay to keep bees nice and warm during the harsh winters in the alpine regions. The basket walls to the carts highlighted in page 174 look as though they originated among the ancient Hallstatt Celts of the Alpine regions, and it appears that their design was little changed. The description of the straw over-shoes made in Sweden for market traders who had to stand for a long time in freezing conditions was also fascinating. They had a single function, because their susceptibility to wear meant that they were made only for people to stand in and could not be used when walking about. How sensible to devise something to keep ones feet warm while sitting in a cart or standing at a market stall, leaving them to be taken off and changed when one wanted to walk! Today, we expect products to do everything, yet the basket maker in this case made a product for a very specific yet vital role in a cold climate. From fig drying trays to cow muzzles, the variety of baskets this book displays will amaze anyone reading it.

The book begins with a brief history of the origins of basketry and the formation of guilds in various parts of Europe. However, there is a question about how far the in-depth coverage of the political and social history of each region adds to the study of baskets. Others with wider political or economic interests might disagree. The book certainly provides the author with a platform to display his knowledge of basketry very extensively. However, his writing style is somewhat disjointed in places, with some rather long sentences which can cause the reader’s attention to wander. Leaving this aside, though, the study is a truly comprehensive record of the development and diversity of basketry in Europe.

Even so, it might have been enhanced by a few drawings to show how some of the more unusual baskets were made, such as the delightful flower-shaped baskets from Sofia on page 228. The photographs and illustrations in the book are, however, truly wonderful and make me what to go out and harvest some material and make some of the more unusual ones myself. History aside, this book is a must-have for anyone who has more than a passing interest in the subject. The book demonstrates wholeheartedly our abilities to manipulate nature and make even seemingly useless material such as wild grass into cherished and useful objects.