Weaving a Grass Basket, Bowl, Dish
This South African craft can be made with a variety of materials and painted, stained, or stamped.
South African arts and crafts are a feast of for the eye of colors, patterns and textures. Try your hand at creating a grass basket and give it your own personal touches.
For centuries Zulu people have braided and woven grasses into bowls and baskets, formed pottery, created intricate embroidery and beadwork, and sculptures using the same techniques that have been used through the ages.
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Are you ready to try your hand at making your own basket? Simply follow the directions below. Once you get the basics down you can have fun trying different alterations.
Materials Needed:
- Lines painted can represent tears and recall the pain of death. The tears also denote the hardship of a woman's life
- Large eyes, ears, and nose signify the ability to see and hear everything
- A small mouth conveys the idea that the you should be slow to speak to give you time to think and not say something in haste that can not be retracted.
- Black denotes the relationship between the living and the dead.
- Red symbolizes life and women
- White rimmed eyes express uncontrolled anger.
- Zig zag geometric patterns refer to moral principles, a difficult moral path that all people must follow if they are to succeed in life.
- The checkerboard pattern represents opposing sides: ignorance and knowledge, dark and light, good and evil, wise from stupid, male from female
The copyright of the article Weaving a Grass Basket, Bowl, Dish in Ceramic Techniques is owned by Mary Welling-Bonney. Permission to republish Weaving a Grass Basket, Bowl, Dish must be granted by the author in writing.
