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Introducing the makers – Part 2
MERL 90/43. A military shell basket, for protecting artillery shells, dating from World War I. Following on from last week’s post, I’d like to introduce the remaining five participants of Stakeholders....
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How do you read a basket?
The amazing array of baskets we got to look at and (very unusually for people who work in a museum) handle freely! Life at MERL is a little bit manic at the moment as Our Country Lives has somewhat...
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Not long to go….
MERL 64/200. This is one of the High Priority baskets. Although we have some information on the materials it’s made from, we have no details about its construction. It is thought that this basket may...
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One day down…
Just a very quick post to say that we’ve had a really successful first day of the Stakeholders workshop visit to MERL. Our basketmakers have been great – so enthusiastic, and so knowledgeable! We’ve...
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Stakeholder success!
Hard at work We followed up the success of the first day of the Stakeholders workshop visit with an even more successful second day. Working in pairs throughout the two days, our expert makers looked...
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Happy New Year
P TAR PH3/2/13/3/24. John Tarlton Collection. Black and white photograph entitled Great Frost – as the sun breaks through on New Year’s day the ice glistens on every blade and branch, Exmoor. Happy...
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MERL lunchtime seminar – Basketry skills as intangible heritage
If you happen to be in Reading today with nothing to do (4 February 2014) why not pop along to MERL at 13.00 for our lunchtime seminar? This series of talks, entitled ‘Untouchable England’, looks at...
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Cataloguing the Stakeholders baskets
MERL 60/202 – photographs It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post about the Stakeholders project – indeed, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to do any work on the project – but in...
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From withy bed to basket – all in one place
Yesterday was one of the Best Days Ever! At the suggestion of Sarah Le Breton, one of the basketmakers who took part in the Stakeholders project, I went to visit the Willow and Wetlands Visitor Centre...
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Welcoming the Basketmakers’ Association to MERL
Our beautiful commissions in a mixture of plain and arty shots (thanks Adam!). Top L-R: Annemarie O’Sullivan, Bunty Ball, Sue Kirk. Bottom L-R: Maggie Smith, Karen Lawrence, the Mezzanine. On Saturday...
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