Late 19th / early 20th century, the buttocks form basket of finely woven oak splints with bentwood frame, with natural dark patination.

11.5 x 12.5 x 12.5 in.

By Descent from the original owner, Minnie Cook Helsabeck (1895-1983), to her daughter, Helen Shore.

Mary Shelton (1837-1921) and her sister, Eliza (1845-1933) were both well known for their basket making. The 1910 US Federal Census lists the sisters living in Old Richmond, Forsyth County and gives their occupations as basket makers. Mary Shelton is further identified as a basket maker on her death certificate. The unmarried sisters' limited income came from selling the baskets they wove, and they were often blessed with the generosity of their neighbors, as recounted by E. Frank Strupe. Mr. Strupe (1899-1995) and his family lived on an adjoining farm to the Shelton sisters, and in 1979, he wrote his tribute to them in which he states, "...very few weeks passed that one or more of our family did not climb the hill and follow the ridge to their humble log cabin, carrying milk and butter, sometimes eggs and flour and meat to them. This was not particularly a chore, for these two old people were very deserving." He further states, "About one a week was their production, which they made from beginning to end, going to the woods, selecting the white oak saplings for the splits..." "The baskets that they made have become heirlooms to many people, and are among the most treasured antiques to many people." It is such with this basket, having descended in the Helsabeck family of Rural Hall, NC.

Fine estate condition with one splint break to interior rib; two small areas of darker coloration to interior.

$1,000 - 2,000