Craftsmanship of Bamboo Baskets in Hangzhou

The traditional folk craft bamboo baskets of East Zhejiang are beautiful, firm and durable, and have been widely spread in the folklore of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for hundreds of years, among which the craft bamboo baskets made in Shengzhou are the most famous.

Shengzhou bamboo baskets are rectangular, cylindrical, polygonal, octagonal, rounded, square, etc., which are all in different shapes and flavors. In terms of weaving techniques, there are picking pressure weaving, pulling flower weaving, solid weaving, empty weaving, and the weaving is very fine, and some of the gimlet wires used are up to 120 gimlet wires (i.e., 120 gimlet wires can be arranged in each city inch). Most of the baskets are made of layers of gabions, and are shaped like pagodas, so they are also known as "pagoda baskets", "basket baskets", or "basket baskets". Generally two to three layers, many up to four or five layers, the upper layer is often "Lang" layer, Lang layer with hollow weaving, gabion sparse, neat and standardized. Common weaving patterns include white rattan pepper eyes, six-hole eyes, and chrysanthemums strung with silk, which are exquisite and clear. The following layers are mostly made of fine weaving with picking one and pressing one, and the weaving silk is tight and airtight.

The cover of the bamboo basket is often processed with selected thin cedar boards, which are painted with elaborate black lacquer or dark brown lacquer, and depicted with gold or silver lacquer in a single line, such as landscapes, figures, flowers and birds with auspicious atmosphere. Bamboo basket basket handle decoration is also exceptionally exquisite, common one main handle, around two support handle, handle the center of the pinch hand part slightly concave. Some fine bamboo basket basket handle is also engraved with dragons and phoenixes, Bogu, Buddha, flowers and birds and other decorations, and some even with brass inlaid corner rim, in the upper end of the basket layer with a copper lock, looks luxurious and noble, elegant and simple. This kind of bamboo basket can not only load food, set incense and candles, put flowers and fruits, but also can store clothes, hide books, as a gift, to catch the test, decorative appreciation of the use.