When we took the City walk on Tuesday, we stopped to watch a woman making sweetgrass baskets on the street next to St. Michael's Episcopal Church. I decided I would like one as a souvenir of Charleston, but it was raining when we went back, so, of course, she was gone. Today we went back and I was able to buy a most unusual basket from Ruth Wright.
The Town of Mt. Pleasant, just a few miles across a bridge from Charleston, is the center of the basket making, but the women are allowed to ply their wares on the four corners of the law in Charleston. Charleston knows how to cater to tourists.
Coiled basketry appeared in South Carolina during the late 1600s when African slaves wee brought to the Lowcountry. Africans from the Rice Coast of Africa had experience with rice cultivation and, as a result, were sought after by plantation owners. The enslaved people brought their culture with them. The baskets were made to use in rice production and processing. The craft is handed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, sweetgrass is getting harder to find because of the development of rural areas.
I'm glad I have mine.
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