Contemporary Cat’s Head in Black and Walnut

The Contemporary Cat’s Head in Black and Walnut is a  Japanese twill woven basket in a cat’s head shape. The black color is iron oxide dye which takes two weeks to create. The material stays in the dye pot a week then goes into a salt, vinegar, and water bath for another week to create the depth of color and to set the color. It is as light fast and color fast as a dye can be. The over dye is a combination of crushed walnut hull stain and linseed oil.

The cat’s head shape is hand shaped without the use of a mold and is balanced on all four sides. It can sit on its four feet or tilted on its side.

The rim is carved on a shave horse with a draw knife and is perfectly round, having been steam bent.

I am in my 34th year of basket making. Each basket I make is individually crafted and I rarely work on more than one basket at a time. I love shaping the basket and watching it evolve. No two are ever exactly alike.

Many of my baskets are in museum collections including the Smithsonian and the Museum of Art and Design.

I demonstrate how to make this basket in my book “Baskets-A Book for Makers and Collectors” published in 1999.

The basket is shipped signed, dated, and numbered and when possible sent priority mail with tracking.

The basket measures approximately 13 inches high by 17 inches in diameter.

 

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