Customer Reviews

Willow Basketry of the Amana Colonies: History of a Folk Art : Six Willow Basket Patterns

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Baskets are more than a hobby to Joanna E. Schanz; they're a way of life. The Iowa native apprenticed with one of the last old-time basketmakers. Her baskets have garnered her a regional and a growing national reputation.

Joanna divides her time between basketry and running several family-owned businesses (including furniture and refinishing shops) with her husband Norman. The traditional willow basketry of the Amana Colonies, where Joanna and her family make their home, is the biggest inspiration behind Joanna's work, but she also experiments with new materials and methods of basketmaking. Lecturing and demonstrating basketry techniques at conventions and art fairs are among Joanna's many craft activities.

Her book covers the history of basketmaking in the Amana Colonies with examples shown of the historic baskets. There are about two dozen historic photographs showing baskets in use in the daily lives of the Amana people before the Great Change in 1932. There are no pre-1900 photographs showing the Amana people, let alone their basketry. The elders of the religious community did not at that time approve of photography or the decorative arts.

The Amana people did not consider baskets an art form or collectible, but rather a strictly utilitarian necessity. The photographs in this book from the 1900-32 era show that baskets were used extensively as an aid to gardening, field planting, and harvesting, as well as for picnics.

Basketmakers of today in the Amana Colonies-Joanna, Laura Kleinmeyer and Kathy Kellenberger-are featured with their willow baskets. Illustrated directions show exactly how to make six baskets. They are the round laundry basket, small oval Easter basket, oval community kitchen basket, strawberry picker, apple-picker and the Amana Colony willow basket.

A unique feature of the round basket historically created in the Colonies is the round removable base that can be replaced when worn-a solution of the thrifty German pioneers who came to the Amanas in the1850s seeking religious freedom.

This is a small but interesting book on the history of willow basketry in the Amana Colonies of Iowa. It contains many black and white photos of historic baskets and, interestingly, very similar baskets being woven in Germany today, so you can see how the tradition has been kept alive. Much of the book is biographical information about the Amana weavers, from past to present-day. A couple of patterns for willow baskets are included.