66/49

This is a three-way cleave, a basketmaking tool for splitting willow rods into three to prepare skeins. It consists of an egg-shaped piece of boxwood, shaped to fit the palm of the hand. This is extended into three brass-tipped fins which are sharpened, but not to a cutting edge. The cleave is held in the right hand while the left guides the rod. This one was given to the Museum by Emily Mullins, a Reading basketmaker.

cleave: wood, brass

Miss Emily E. Mullins (1906–1967) was a basketmaker in Reading. Her family were basketmakers for at least five generations. Her father, William Mullins, had no sons and Emily chose to become a basketmaker and carry on the tradition. She ran a basketmaking business in Bath circa 1926–1939, and moved to London in 1940 where she made baskets for the war effort. Later, she moved to Reading where she took over her father’s job on his death at Cook’s Dairy and Farm Equipment Ltd., a basketmaking firm founded in 1760 by John Cook. Cook’s had premises at Market Place, Reading, and the workshop was at Silver Street, Reading. The Museum has an extensive collection of baskets and basketmaking tools (approximately 200) given to the Museum by Emily Mullins. No correspondence between the Museum and Emily Mullins was found in July 2012, and it is assumed from scraps of information (e.g. a note on the Adlib record for 63/61 which said that the 63/ baskets were made by Emily Mullins for the Museum and were therefore never used, and a note on the Adlib record for 64/147 which said that Emily Mullins made numerous baskets for the Museum in 1964) that the baskets were made by Emily Mullins at Cook’s Silver Street workshop and the tools were used by Emily Mullins at the same workshop., MERL 'Catalogue of baskets' form – 'NAME: CLEAVE (3-way) // Acc. No.: 66/49 // Group: CRAFTS. WOOD BASKETS // Neg. no.: 60/8986 // Place of origin: Berkshire // Period in use: pre-1965 // DESCRIPTION // Materials: Box wood & brass. // Shape and construction: An egg-shape of boxwood extending to three brass fins sharpened but not to a cutting edge. Fits into the palm of the hand. // Dimensions: Length 2 1/2” Base 1 1/2” diam. Fins 1/4” long. // Use: For splitting a willow rod lengthways into 3 strips. The first process in the making of a skein. The cleave is held in the right hand while the left guides the rod. // Dialect names: // Distribution: Was in general use. // Additional notes:'

Wood, Metal, brass

Cook's Dairy and Farm Equipment Ltd. ()
Wright, Dorothy (Recorder)