2011/20

Chip basket,

Mr Lewis (Manufacturer)

This is a rectangular ‘chip’ basket made of thin strips of wood fastened with metal staples, and with a metal handle. It was used to transport cherries from Bishops Manor Farm in Harwell, Oxfordshire, to a wholesaler in Southampton. This basket could hold 12lb of cherries. It was made by Mr Lewis, a basketmaker of Cholsey, Oxfordshire, in the 1950s or 60s. It was given to the donor, a basketmaker and collector baskets, in 2006.

1 basket: wood, brass, metal

MERL ‘Object Accession Form’ – ‘Short description (free text): Rectangular chip basket with handle used for transporting cherries to the wholesaler. // … // Physical description (free text): Rectangular wooden basket with brass metal handle. Made by 1/1 plait method. Minor damage to some strands, the ends of which appear to have uneven/broken edges. Slight lip to rim. Corners slightly rounded both at base and on rim. Handle appears rectangular with rounded corners and is affixed with metal stud. The underside of the handle is black with a design of silver birds and red and gold lines. The basket is made of wide, very thin strips of wood interlacing one another with a narrower strip running horizontally around the rim both on the interior and exterior of the basket; this horizontal strip is attached using metal staples. Basket feels fragile and there is minor damage to the wood in one corner. The basket had previously been on display before it was donated to MERL and is complete with an accompanying label which says, ''chip' basket (used for sale of cherries). Wood, metal. Lent by Felicity Wood. Gift of Kathleen and Edward Lay.' // … // Associated information (free text): This basket was originally acquired by Felicity Wood in 2006, along with a cherry picking basket, as a gift from Kathleen and Edward Lay whom she had met through an edition of the WI newsletter. Mr and Mrs Lay, in their 80s in 2011, married in 1954 and grew cherries and apples at their home, Bishops Manor Farm ...Harwell, Oxon ... This chip basket was used to transport the cherries they grew on their farm to a wholesaler in Southampton (possibly Pouparts). Mr Lay used to get up at 4.00am to take the baskets of cherries on the train to the wholesaler and returned by 9.00 am to continue the picking. The chip baskets used for this purpose held 12lb of cherries each. During the 1950s, cherries were sold for 1/6d per lb. The cherry picking season lasted approximately six weeks. Wide-bottomed ladders and long hooks to pull down branches were used during the picking. Each evening the cherries from the picking baskets would be sorted and then put into the chip baskets ready to be taken to the wholesaler. Photographs show the cherries in their chip baskets laid out on the kitchen table waiting to be transported. The picked apples were collected in large canvas slings then sorted into a sieve for transportation. Unfortunately, none of these slings now survive. The Lays also lent a number of cherry picking baskets and sieves for a display at the Vale and Downland Museum. The Lays used a number of baskets in their home in addition to this chip basket. The baskets were made and supplied by Mr Lewis from Cholsey, who visited the Lays each year in his van to deliver new baskets and collect old ones for repair. This chip basket most likely dates from 1950s or 1960s. As well as cherry baskets, Mr Lewis made apple baskets, shopping baskets and laundry baskets for the Lays. They also owned a variety of other baskets made by Mr Lewis including: half bushels (sieves), bushels (some with vertical support bands up the sides, such as those in the Vale and Downland Museum's rope display), cherry picking baskets (some with the short chain and hook attached), two log baskets, a shopping basket and a laundry basket which was still in use despite one handle missing (this had possibly been given to Kathleen Lay by her mother when she got married). Felicity Wood is in possession of the trade specification for this particular chip basket... // References: MERL collections object number 66/347.'Baskets in Europe' - Bichard, Maurice (Fyfield Wick Editions, 2008). 'The complete book of baskets and basketry' - Wright, Dorothy (David & Charles, 1992).’, Felicity Wood No. 116.

Cholsey

Wood, Metal, Metal, brass