Using baskets as wall art is certainly not a new idea and I imagine it came about fairly organically as a form of storage in which baskets were hung for easy access, ready to be grabbed off the wall for use.
More common modern styling tends to position a group of like baskets in a pattern, much like this set of African winnowing baskets, which are used to separate the grain from the chaff.
West Elm in particular has helped to make this look popular.
Part of the charm of baskets as wall art is that they are lightweight and often inexpensive, while covering large areas. Faced with a massive expanse of white in her new apartment and a desire to mitigate the dominance of the television, L asked me to help her solve her dilemma quickly and easily, as she is only in Tokyo on a two-year contract. Using vintage baskets was the perfect solution as they are readily available here, have loads of charm and will not damage the TV or more importantly, the people, in the event of an earthquake.
We had been collecting Japanese baskets for a few months, including this beautiful old winnowing basket dated either 1933, or much more likely Showa 33 (1958) on the back, which we were planning to highlight.
We had also collected some assorted round baskets including a typical silk worm tray…
…and a large rectangular one too, all dark and aged bamboo.
I am often asked exactly how these baskets were used. This photo dates to 1904 and in it you can see women in traditional dress feeding mulberry leaves to the silkworms growing on the trays. Stacks and stacks of them!
We also had some small scoopers sourced at the Kawagoe shrine sale…
and a wooden and metal fish sign…
…as well as a beautifully carved and painted bamboo pole.
This is as far as we got before summer intervened. We saved a column of space to the left of the bamboo pole for a vertical row of framed prints.
Wouldn’t it be funny to be thematic and hang an ukiyo-e series like this, Kuniyoshi’s Weavers’ Children in the Silkworm House, which depicts the entire process of making silk from start to finish?
More likely to be this series of 19th century Japanese design plates we just had framed, although perhaps a little color might be nice, so on the other hand we might just save this group for the dining room.
The large rectangular tray got its own wall on the side.
Japanese silkworm trays aren’t commonly featured in Western interiors, in fact the only time I have seen one is in this photo below from an older Metropolitan Home that I featured in a previous post.
But the rectangular ones do remind me of another basket that has become very trendy to hang, in addition to the round African style winnowers above – the American tobacco basket. I feel like I had started seeing them in interiors regularly in the last two years, and now I feel I can’t turn around without noticing one hanging in living rooms with modern counterpoints like this one…
…and this one.
With neutrals…
… and pretty brights in a sunroom – you can see it peeking out of the left corner.
Even a recent post on Cote de Texas, on a completely different topic, managed to have a photo of an unexpected one in a rustic-luxe Mississippi kitchen.
The large size is quite commanding in an entryway.
Single large baskets also look great over beds in bedrooms and have the same advantage there as they do in Tokyo – lightweight if they fall down (although I have read that tobacco baskets are quite heavy).
I love this vignette with the vintage dress form, another favorite that I find in the markets here. Hmm, might need to do a post on those soon.
And I stumbled across these two photos on Houzz from Katarina Tana Design featuring baskets by artist Jonathan Kline.
They make me wonder what my friend, artist Lisa George of Paper Glue Bamboo might do with some of the silk worm baskets we have been collecting for her.
And speaking of that, take a look at the ingenious way she does use one of her silkworm trays! Funkiest inspiration board ever!
And also sent in by friends, this photo of a round silkworm basket in the window of a shop out in the Hamptons selling for something like $250. Crazy!! If you are looking for any, just let me know by email. I have them all the time for a tiny fraction of the cost!
Related Posts:
Kawagoe Shrine Sale Never Disappoints
Artist Spotlight…Lisa George and the Modern Art of Ikkanbari at PaperGlueBamboo
Alice
This is a very interesting post, thank you! I doubt a basket maker in years gone by would use Western years to note a date. My guess is that the notation on your basket was made in the Japanese system, which would make the date Showa 33 (1958).
Tokyo Jinja
Sorry for the careless lazy writing – I know better myself and I have corrected it!!
Libby
J, I loved this post. Maybe the Shrine sale lovers who have moved home should send you photos of how they have displayed their finds in their new homes? xo Libby
Tokyo Jinja
Love that idea Libby! Fire away!
Wendy
Hey Jacqueline! Remember the pizza slice shaped windows above my new bookcases in the keeping room? I wonder about using baskets like these above there? I was wanting some of those Chinese lanterns like i sent you photos of-but I guess no luck so far? Maybe these would do the job?
Sent from my iPhone
lisa jardine
loved the post. too bad i didn’t buy any baskets in japan! oh well. i’ve plenty of other stuff – spent the past few weeks with you “sitting on my shoulder” telling me about important groupings, etc… i’ll send some photos too – like libby mentioned it would be great to see everyone’s treasures in their new homes!
barbarashapiro
I love reading your posts and especially like the baskets in this one. Are your silk worm baskets here in the US? How much do you charge for them? Thank you. Barbara Shapiro
Maja Smith
Love the post and especially George’s inspiration board! xo
Loi Thai
Your basket collection looks fantastic! I especially love the large rectangular tray—very graphic. Warm and wonderful texture…..that’s what I love about baskets. Thanks for sharing 🙂
xoxo,
Loi
Andrea
Since reading this post I have dug out one of our old tobacco baskets. When we lived in Kansas/Missouri we picked up a couple and displayed them in our family room until we moved overseas. They’ve been packed away for a decade and I’d almost forgotten about them! I think one of them will find a new home in our kitchen. So glad you posted the photos and inspired me. Andrea
Tokyo Jinja
Photo please!b Nothing better than action from a post!
Maria
Good morning!! I’ve followed your blog for a while now (definitely more than a year!) and I just had a moment where I realized how much I have learned from you, and also, really how small this world can be! I was reading another blog when I saw a post about wicker baskets. But what drew my eye was not the wicker baskets but the Japanese silk worm trays hanging on the walls! It was a moment of wonder for me – America and Belgium and Japan all intertwined by a beautiful object used for decorating. (Here is a link to the post just prove that this happened 🙂 http://belgianpearls.blogspot.com/2013/04/wicker-decoration-ideas.html )
~Maria
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[…] sales in Japan was a bamboo silkworm tray that we hung in our living room. Inspired by an old Tokyo Jinja feature of our friend Lisa George’s use of a similar tray for her inspiration board, I thought this […]