Bread baskets braided

VILLAGE OF LIVERPOOL – The willow-weaving industry began in Liverpool in 1852 when John Fischer, a German-born salt boiler, noticed willow bushes growing profusely in nearby swamps. That willow closely resembled the German domestic willow that was used for basketry.
By the 1890s, Liverpool basket weavers were producing an estimated 300,000 willow laundry baskets each year, making this small village an international center of basket production. The Liverpool willow-weaving business was a cottage industry that supported scores of Liverpool families for decades.
On Aug. 10 and 11, British-born Bonnie Gale taught a class of 11 how to weave an authentic, Liverpool-style willow basket, specifically a bread basket. The weaving took place at the village hall on Sycamore Street. The class also visited the Liverpool Willow Museum on the grounds of the Gleason Mansion.
For the past four decades, Gale – who now lives in Norwich – has been a professional willow basket maker well known for her living willow sculptures and willow caskets.
Gale said she chose to teach the bread basket because it’s an excellent beginning willow basket.
“It provides a lot of the basic techniques used in the old Liverpool baskets,” she said. “It is a joy to make, and it demonstrates the intrinsic functional nature of willow.”
Among the novice weavers here were Liverpool Mayor Stacy Finney and her husband, Ray.
“Bonnie is one of America’s most prominent willow basket makers,” Finney said. “She has is a wealth of knowledge and patience. We are so fortunate that CNY Arts brings her here each year.”
The project was made possible with funds from a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts administered here by CNY Arts.