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BASKET MAKING CLASS: Traditional Easter BasketSaturday, April 4, 2020, 1 - 4 PM
In New England, baskets were made by the Native American tribes who used a variety of local materials including birch bark and the split wood of ash trees. Because the wood is soft and splits easily, it was not much use for furniture-making or building but was uniquely suited for basket making. When European settlers came to New England in the mid-1600s and 1700s, they brought basketry traditions to places like the Puddle Dock neighborhood of Strawbery Banke.
Like coopering, basket-making skills were valuable in an era when everything was transported in barrels and baskets. The Basket-making Workshop at Strawbery Banke takes its style from intermingled traditions, using the traditional “over and under” weave.
In this class, learn how to make a traditional, woven Easter basket, from scratch! Led by Strawbery Banke’s master weavers, participants will learn the basic skills and basket-weaving techniques to create and complete a flat reed basket, to take home. Participants meet at the TYCO Visitors Center (14 Hancock St.)
Basket-makers should wear “crafting clothes” and/or bring an apron as clothes can get damp and need to withstand some abrasion. Each class is limited to 10 participants. Members $45; Non-members $55.
Date & Time
Sat, Apr 4, 2020 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Venue Details
Strawbery Banke TYCO Visitors Center
14 Hancock Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 03801
Strawbery Banke Museum
Strawbery Banke Museum, in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is an authentic 10-acre outdoor history museum dedicated to bringing 300+ years of American history in the same waterfront neighborhood to life. The Museum is a place for children, adults, multigenerational families, and groups to gather to explore eight heritage gardens, 32 historic buildings, and traditional crafts, preservation programs, hands-on activities, the stories told by costumed role-players and the changing exhibits that offer hours of fun and discovery. The Museum's restored buildings and open space invite visitors to immerse themselves in the past, using objects from the museum's collection of 30,000 artifacts, and the histories of the families who lived and worked in the Puddle Dock neighborhood to engage, educate, and entertain.