Sweetgrass Baskets

Sweetgrass baskets are a Lowcountry tradition that spans back more than 300 years and extends across the Atlantic to Africa. Enslaved people from West Africa brought their tradition of using natural materials to craft sturdy baskets for winnowing rice and holding household goods. In the Lowcountry these baskets were made of rush, sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto.

After the Civil War, the work of Gullah basket makers was sought after due to the high quality of their work, and in the early twentieth century sweetgrass baskets became a highly desirable souvenir of the area – one that was both practical and beautiful.

The evolution of this art in the Lowcountry is tied to our environment and our complex history. The museum has planted a sweetgrass field to provide raw materials for local artists. You will frequently see Gullah basket sewers practicing their art on our property and excellent examples of their work are available in our museum store.

Sweetgrass Baskets

Sweetgrass baskets are a Lowcountry tradition that spans back more than 300 years and extends across the Atlantic to Africa. Enslaved people from West Africa brought their tradition of using natural materials to craft sturdy baskets for winnowing rice and holding household goods. In the Lowcountry these baskets were made of rush, sweetgrass, pine needles, and palmetto.

After the Civil War, the work of Gullah basket makers was sought after due to the high quality of their work, and in the early twentieth century sweetgrass baskets became a highly desirable souvenir of the area – one that was both practical and beautiful.

The evolution of this art in the Lowcountry is tied to our environment and our complex history. The museum has planted a sweetgrass field to provide raw materials for local artists. You will frequently see Gullah basket sewers practicing their art on our property and excellent examples of their work are available in our museum store.

BE IN THE KNOW

SWEETGRASS
BASKET CLASS

World-famous but with origins right here in the Lowcountry, the Sweetgrass basket is one of the regions’s best known art forms and cultural icons. An important economic and artistic resource throughout the historic development of the Gullah people, you can learn about the making and the history personally from a local Gullah basket maker. You can even try your hand at starting a basket of your own using locally resourced natural materials.

Select Saturdays at 10:30am.
Please note: A minimum of 5 participants is required for this class to occur.
Reservations required: call 843-689-6767 ext. 223 or register online.

Register Now

SWEETGRASS
BASKET CLASS

World-famous but with origins right here in the Lowcountry, the Sweetgrass basket is one of the regions’s best known art forms and cultural icons. An important economic and artistic resource throughout the historic development of the Gullah people, you can learn about the making and the history personally from a local Gullah basket maker. You can even try your hand at starting a basket of your own using locally resourced natural materials.

Select Saturdays at 10:30am.
Please note: A minimum of 5 participants is required for this class to occur.
Reservations required: call 843-689-6767 ext. 223 or register online.

Register Now