Latest willow baskets on my list have been some skeps for a film company. These are the first time I have used brown willow, which still has its bark on, It's nice to work with and flexible once it has spent a couple of days in the pond soaking. There are pictures in the beekeeping section.
I have also been asked for pannier baskets for a horse, a mediaeval horse, not a modern one. Picture of first attempt below, on a garden chair to show the size. I may have to relocate the handle to nearer the back, which is flat and rests against the horse.
Besides the panniers I have been asked to make some winnowing fans, which are flat wide baskets with a narrow wall at the back but none at the front, Though these are OK to make in buff willow they are proving much more difficult in brown willow which is slippery and does not hold its shape like buff willow.
Making willow baskets is for me a development from my straw skep making. Skeps were quite often made from hedgerow sticks and finished with a coat of plastered on mud and cow dung mixture. This coating is called clooming.
The pictures below show my attempts at copying a Flemish 16th century chicken basket, taken from an oil painting of the period. I made these at the request of Laurence Smith who is an artist very interested in paintings from that period. However, they have since been sold as a present to a Dutch chicken fancier - could it be more appropriate?
Detail of the lid. which is attached unlosably to the carrying handle.
The two chicken baskets, The near one is the better, the far one having been made just to work out what to do when making. The two shopping baskets, also my own, are there to show the scale.
The two chicken baskets with their lids off to show the neck details. The newer one on the left is more faithful to the original in the paintings.
