Learning from the collection at Adams Heritage Centre, Littleport
Earlier in the year I was invited by Jenny Stevens to be part of the Queen Drawers at Adams Heritage centre, Littleport Celebrations for the Queens Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.
Along with other artists, I spent some time looking round the shop, which I had been very familiar with as our local hardware shop for many years, but not with the collection that had been stored in cupboards and hidden for so long.
The transformation into a heritage centre for Littleport has been great to see and be a small part of, both as artist and participant in events.
In a dark corner of Adams Heritage Centre there was an old stoneware flagon with a basket container, presumably to prevent breakages when carrying it on a horse and cart.
The willow had been eaten by woodworm and rotted in places, but it still looked fascinating. I was given permission to take it to my workshop and find out whether I could replace the original. I began to learn a lot, both about the techniques and making process, the people involved and the history behind the item.
I had noticed the base was not made as I usually start them and it would be interesting to learn; like industrial archaeology I took it apart carefully and kept as much as possible of the original to copy the techniques.
The centre of the base is made from 4 sticks, the 4th is also the first weaver for the base, this makes a sturdy base and is very efficient on time and materials, an essential consideration when hand making anything. The maker was obviously a careful person, very likely a man because most basketmakers were men until relatively recently. He would be able to make about 8 of these flagon baskets in a day, an order for the pub or coaching inn would be 3 or 4 days work.
The top of the orginal basket had to be cut off, which told me it was made round the bottle, not separately. This is harder than making an ordinary basket as you can’t get inside to trim or hold the work in progress.
The border of the basket holds the flagon tight and goes onto the angled edge, so it cannot slip out. Ask any basketmaker and they will tell you borders are tricky, so making one that fits so well takes a bit of time to learn. I had three attempts before it worked well enough for me to show anyone the finished piece.
I couldn’t tell whether there had been a carrying handle for the basket, but it is likely there was one. Handles break sooner than any other part of a basket because of everyday use.
The story behind the flagon and it’s basket is still not told, it has the name The Bell Hotel, Ely and number 25 stamped on the top. Maybe it was part of a farmer’s regular order for field workers or used by a coachmen who used the Bell Hotel, we will probably never know. At some time it came to Adams and Sons, in Littleport, and has been there a long time.
Before I started to make the replacements basket I cleaned the flagon, as I washed it out there was what looked like fluff and cobwebs floating to the top. It turned out that there were the bodies of 10 mice, desiccated and long dead! Perhaps they went in to get the dregs of beer, or maybe it was a set trap with grain or poison in.
Adams sold chicken food and grain, there were mice and rats in the shop taking advantage of the food source and there are still signs of them in the floorboards, which have been carefully restored to show more than a hundred years of the building’s history.
https://www.adamsheritagecentre.co.uk/cutlacks-and-the-jh-adams-timeline
The restored flagon and basket is now back in Adams Heritage Centre, sharing it’s story along with all the other items in the collection.
I took three attempts and 1.5 hours to make the finished one, so I would not be able to make 8 in a day. I would not earn enough to feed a family, basket makers have never been rich!
I have learned from experience it takes a lot of energy, time and the right skills to have enough willow to make baskets and sculpture throughout the year.
Preparation of willow includes maintaining and growing willow, grading into the right size for the jobs in hand and soaking to make it pliable for working with as each order or commission comes in.
Each basketmaker working full time needs approximately 2 acres of willow a year, it is harvested in winter. This would have been part of the seasonal life of basketmakers and would need two or three families working together.
In the past willow copses were a familiar and essential part of most farms, providing material for baskets and hurdle fencing used as temporary fencing for cattle and sheep on the farm and in markets.
Since the 1970’s growers have developed into large farms providing willow for makers, who can have their order of willow delivered or go to the farms to collect their supplies.
The farms also grow willow for wonderful drawing charcoal, made by baking in large ovens and supplied to schools, colleges and artists round the world.
I continue to learn and listen to the stories of makers I can never meet, they tell me their stories through the pieces they made.
