Coiled sweetgrass basket sewn by Sue Middleton
date: label: Date
content: early 1980s
name: label: Attributed to
content: Sue Middleton, American, born 1934
notes: label: Description
content: A round sweetgrass basket (a) with lid (b) sewn by Sue Middleton. The basket is made of coils of dried sweetgrass bound with strips of dried palmetto, with pine needles sewn in for color. The base of the basket has a flat bottom, with pine needles creating a darker circle in the middle of the base. Rising up from the base are straight sides with one coil of sweetgrass sewn in around the exterior of the basket in a decorative pattern that rises up straight from the base, runs along the top for several inches, then straight back down to the base, follows along the base for several inches, and then repeats. Behind the decorative coil is a band of darker pine needles. Above the deorative coil, the sides of the basket begin to slope inward, forming a narrower mouth for the lid to fit over. The round lid has a small knob handle in the center and then slopes slightly down, with a small lip extending down to fit over the mouth of the basket. The handle has pine needles woven in and around, with a decorative knot in the very top and five decorative knots dispersed evenly around the base of the handle. There is a band of pine needles around the edge of the basket lid.
place: label: Place made
content: Mount Pleasant, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Craftsmanship
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Domestic life
label: Topic
content: Folklife
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Richard E. Ahlborn
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2007.5.1ab
objectType: label: Type
content: baskets
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto
label: Dimensions
content: 7 x 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. (17.8 x 16.5 x 16.5 cm)