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Created April 2008

These photos were taken by members of the Warsaw Historical Society of Warsaw, New York and are used here with their permission. The baskets and tools were donated to the Historical Society by Peter's grandchildren, Lilian and Edward Williams in the mid 1950s and were on display at one time. The items had been placed in storage and forgotten about for many years, until Pauline Angevine Matthews found mention of the display in an old news clipping and encouraged current society members to locate the items. Ne-Do-Ba and the Wabanaki community are grateful this wonderful collection of Abenaki basketry has been preserved for future generations to view.

Peter Emmett's Baskets

Key to the Baskets in the photo above

Key to Peter Emmett's Baskets
  1. large open work basket for garden or shopping - ash
  2. oval fancy basket with cow-wiss weave - ash
  3. writing paper box with cow-wiss weave - ash
  4. square fancy basket with cow-wiss weave, unusual style - ash
  5. yarn or tatting basket - ash & sweetgrass
  6. small square fancy basket with cow-wiss weave - ash
  7. bread basket, satin lined
  8. small oval fancy basket with cow-wiss weave - ash
  9. large wall pocket with cow-wiss weave - ash
  10. pin cushion with cow-wiss weave - ash
  11. perhaps a whisky/wine glass basket - ash & sweetgrass
  12. scissors basket - ash
  13. small round fancy basket with cow-wiss weave rim - ash
  14. basket lace - ash
  15. drum basket/purse, unusual style with handle - ash & sweetgrass
  16. cylindrical fancy basket - ash
  17. 2 small round baskets unfinished - ash
  18. decorative wall hanging - ash & sweetgrass
Peter Emmett's Basket Tools
Key to Peter Emmett's Basket Tools - top photo

Key to the Basket Making Tools in the above two photos

 Key to Peter Emmett's Basket Tools - bottom photo
  1. wood blocks, used as forms for shaping baskets
  2. gauge block, holds gauges for sizing ash splints
  3. splint plane, to scrape and smoothing the splints
  4. wooden hand tools
  5. sweetgrass braid
  6. basket stuff - ash splints
  1. wooden hand tools
  2. taper vise tool, used to taper standards on round baskets and covers
  3. crooked knife with wide blade, used to plane and smooth splints
  4. perhaps draw knives ?
  5. basket stuff - ash splints
  6. sweetgrass
  7. gauge block, holds gauges for sizing ash splints
  8. large assortment of gauges, used to regulate splint widths

Please contact us if you have additional information or corrections concerning the items above or their use. We are not basket makers ourselves, so we don't have first hand knowledge of the subject. The information presented here comes from three sources; Abenaki Basketry by Gaby Pelletier, A Key into the Langauge of Woodsplint Baskets, and a little personal knowledge acquired over the years.

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