Mpondo, Libode, 1939. Sewn garden baskets and the material to make them. Tsonga, Gazankulu, 1978. Because articles of basketry are above all intended to be functional their shape is adapted to their use. The garden basket, which is used especially for carrying crops back from the fields, has a narrow base which is suited both for carrying on the head and standing on the ground.
Some people hollow the base to make it fit the head more firmly.
The flanging shape allows produce to be built up above the actual edge of the basket. The flat tray is important as a tray for food, as a lid, and for winnowing threshed grain by throwing it up so that the wind blows the chaff away. It surprises people that basketwork can contain liquids, but it has been much used for that purpose, especially where clay for making pottery is not easily available. Beer may be brewed or stored in a basket, and a basket may be used as a beaker. In the last century in the Transkei milk was milked into and brought for sale in baskets.