67/25

A willow knife is used to harvest willows. This knife consists of sharply curved sickle-shaped steel blade, which is very worn, with an ash handle repaired with a leather patch. The handle is stamped with ‘made in England’ It was used at Thomas Abbey & Sons, a basketmaking firm in Selby, North Yorkshire.

The family basketmaking business of Thomas Abbey & Sons was established in 1864. Mrs Snowden’s brother (Guy Abbey), father (A. E. Abbey) and grandfather were all basketmakers in the business. Her father spent some years teaching basketmaking at the Amar Singh Technical Institute in Srinagar, Kashmir, India, and was also on the Rural Industries Bureau. When Guy Abbey died there was no one to pass the firm on to, and Mrs Snowden donated several tools [67/15–67/31] which had been in use in the family for about one hundred years., MERL 'Catalogue of baskets' form – 'NAME: KNIFE (WILLOW) // Acc. No.: 67/25 // Group: CRAFTS. WOOD. BASKETS // Neg. no.: 60/8575 // Place used: Yorks [Yorkshire] (W. R. [West Riding]) Selby // Period in use: // DESCRIPTION // Materials: metal/Steel, Wood, leather // User: Thos. [Thomas] Abbey & Sons // Shape and construction: Curved sickle-shape steel blade, wooden handle repaired with leather patch // Dimensions: L. [length] blade curve 7” Handle 5 1/2” // Use: For harvesting willows. // Inscription/mark “MADE IN ENGLAND” posit/handle, method/stamped. // Dialect names: // Distribution: // Additional notes:'

England

1967

Abbey, Guy ()
Abbey, A. E. ()
Rural Industries Bureau ()
Amar Singh Technical Institute ()
Wright, Dorothy (Recorder)