DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0265
SOME BISHAR1N BASKETS IN THE PEABODY MUSEUM
F. H. STERNS, PH.D.
During the winter of 1915-16, the Editor of this series while at Aswan obtained from
Genawi Ibrahim, a Bisharin, eleven Bisharin baskets. These were presented to the
Peabody Museum of Harvard University, where were already two others which had
been given by Mrs. W. E. Atwood, and three which had been purchased.
The general Bisharin name for these baskets, according to Ibrahim, is takdba (pl.
takdbagudat'). Their type of design is of exceptional interest. The patterns are com-
posed of triangles or straight lines, alternately of leather and fiber. As the baskets are
coiled, these designs seem somewhat peculiar, since they belong rather to twined or twill
work. It is possible that they had some such prototype, or that they have been trans-
ferred to basketry from another technique.
The basketry is a typical coiled ware, consisting of a more or less rigid foundation
which returns upon itself continuously, and a series of stitches or flexible bands which
join together adjacent coils. A portion of a basket, slightly enlarged, showing the detailed
structure of the coiling is to be seen in pl. 3, fig. 3. The foundation consists of a long
bundle of grass or woody fibers laid together without either weaving or twisting. The
individual fibers of which this is composed are of varying lengths, and new ones are
constantly introduced. Thus is formed a continuous strip with no weak joints. The
diameters of the bundles in different baskets vary considerably (from 3 to 8 mm. in the
specimens in the Peabody Museum).
Ire nearly all the specimens included in this study, a strip of leather forms part of
the foundation. This in some places is bound under the
Text fig. A.
sewing in the same way as the remainder of the founda-
tion. In other places, it is used to form part of the
decoration by being bent back while the sewing is carried
on around the remainder of the coil. The leather is
placed over the sewing for any required distance, and
then is incorporated in the coil again (fig. A). Where such a strip comes to an end or a
new one is to be introduced, the ends may be left free on the outside of the basket, may
F. H. STERNS, PH.D.
During the winter of 1915-16, the Editor of this series while at Aswan obtained from
Genawi Ibrahim, a Bisharin, eleven Bisharin baskets. These were presented to the
Peabody Museum of Harvard University, where were already two others which had
been given by Mrs. W. E. Atwood, and three which had been purchased.
The general Bisharin name for these baskets, according to Ibrahim, is takdba (pl.
takdbagudat'). Their type of design is of exceptional interest. The patterns are com-
posed of triangles or straight lines, alternately of leather and fiber. As the baskets are
coiled, these designs seem somewhat peculiar, since they belong rather to twined or twill
work. It is possible that they had some such prototype, or that they have been trans-
ferred to basketry from another technique.
The basketry is a typical coiled ware, consisting of a more or less rigid foundation
which returns upon itself continuously, and a series of stitches or flexible bands which
join together adjacent coils. A portion of a basket, slightly enlarged, showing the detailed
structure of the coiling is to be seen in pl. 3, fig. 3. The foundation consists of a long
bundle of grass or woody fibers laid together without either weaving or twisting. The
individual fibers of which this is composed are of varying lengths, and new ones are
constantly introduced. Thus is formed a continuous strip with no weak joints. The
diameters of the bundles in different baskets vary considerably (from 3 to 8 mm. in the
specimens in the Peabody Museum).
Ire nearly all the specimens included in this study, a strip of leather forms part of
the foundation. This in some places is bound under the
Text fig. A.
sewing in the same way as the remainder of the founda-
tion. In other places, it is used to form part of the
decoration by being bent back while the sewing is carried
on around the remainder of the coil. The leather is
placed over the sewing for any required distance, and
then is incorporated in the coil again (fig. A). Where such a strip comes to an end or a
new one is to be introduced, the ends may be left free on the outside of the basket, may