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DATE STALK CLUSTERS

November 24, 2019

DATE STALK CLUSTERS

About a year ago, I began examining various possibilities for interweaving date stalk clusters.

One particularly popular, simple, æsthetic and charming basket is made out of a single date stalk cluster, like this one:

Here is the same basket with small ornaments around the rim:

My next project consisted of interweaving two clusters to produce a larger basket. This idea was more complex and required considerable coordination, yet it proved feasible nonetheless, as we see in this photograph:

At this point I began to conceive of several complex and interesting combinations for interweaving clusters that no one had ever attempted before. First, I tried interweaving the clusters in opposite directions, forming a highly dynamic and creative undular shape. The resulting basket has two sides and may be oriented in either direction. Baskets of this type are available for sale on my website.

I then tried combining several clusters into one large basket, beginning with three such clusters. I weave each cluster separately at first, then produce a central circle around which I integrate the various parts.

This is the result of my first attempt:

Subsequently, I combined four clusters and decided to combine them with two facing in the opposite direction, yielding a most interesting shape.

The next stage, a five-cluster basket, has already been described at length here.

For the World Wicker and Basketry Festival in Nowy Tomsyl, Poland, I decided to make a giant basket out of six date stalk clusters: two groups of three clusters are placed in opposite directions (like the four-cluster basket), forming two triangles that the eye perceives as a Star of David.

This basket is intended for decorating a room or wall, rather than being displayed on a table, as its size exceeds one meter in diameter.

Here, we display the finished product and the sequential stages of its production: