Object number
2012/460
Description
This is a shrimp creel made of white willow, with the lid and base each made with a cane hoop. It was made some time before 1940 in Guernsey and used to hold shrimps that were caught when wading on sandy beaches at low tide with a long handled net. Its local name was 'ponier a chervette'. These creels were used by most families living in Guernsey and some were still in use in the 1950s. This basket was collected by Maurice Bichard, the author of 'Baskets in Europe' (published in 2008 by Fyfield Wick Editions), in 1968, who inherited it from his godmother, Mrs E. Sauvary.
Physical description
1 shimp creel: willow; cane; good condition.
Archival history
Maurice Bichard object form - 'Name: SHRIMP CREEL // MB ID: E1 // ... // Collection date: 1968 (Made pre-1940) // Country: Guernsey // Source - home use Inherited from godmother (Mrs E. Sauvary) // Use: Holding shrimps caught when wading on sandy beaches at low tide with a long handled net // Materials: White willow; cane hoop for base and lid // Local name: ponier a chervette // Description: Base and lid: half ovals (30 x 21cm) to provide a flat rear side. Pot-shaped with side stakes flowing out from base and in again to top border. Lid hinged to rear border, with rectangular aperture to insert catch, and secured with wooden toggle (missing). 22cm tall. Two small handles (broken) at rear to hold a neckband. // Notes: Used by most families on the Island - some still in use in 1950s // Shape related to the fly fisher's creel which Dorothy Wright says was made in France on a 3-piece wooden mould) though this 3-rod slewing is a different weave). // Cross reference to books: Wright, pp 162/3 'The complete book of baskets and basketry''
Production place
Guernsey
Object name
Material
Technique
Dimensions
- Height 220 mm
- Width 300 mm
- Depth 215 mm
Associated subject
