| Summary: | Navajo wedding baskets and Apache water baskets; sweet-grass and black ash splint baskets from New York State; rattan hanging baskets from Bangladesh; raffia embroidery from China; Japanese bamboo openwork; Berber baskets from Morocco; Zulu coiled pots; rope-rim baskets from Catalonia; black maple from Hungary; birch-bark strips from Finland; picnic baskets from France; horsehair from Chile; plaited yucca from Mexico...<p>Baskets, with their simplicity and versatility, have survived the rise and fall of all the world's great civilizations. So functional that they were once taken for granted, today they are collected and displayed for their elegance, the decorative power of their immemorial patterns, the respect of their makers for natural materials, and -- not least -- their affordability.<p>While basketmaking as a living art and craft has an extensive modern literature, this is the first book to provide a worldwide survey, revealing common solutions to design and construction within a dazzling range of styles. The book is organized into five principal sections, containing over eighty individual topics, each richly illustrated.<br>-- Materials: from bamboo and bark, rattan and rushes, to palms and grasses and leaf fibers.<br>-- Techniques: from twining and plaiting to coiling, linking, and looping.<br>-- Decoration: from natural colors and dyes to embroidery and embellishment.<br>-- Everyday basketry: from cradles, fishing, and storage to rites of passage.<br>
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