LIVERPOOL — Fifteen years ago the Mount Vernon Estate decided to display the love letters that Martha Washington had written to America’s first president. To design and construct a basket to hold the precious letters, they commissioned British-born willow weaver Bonnie Gale.
One of the world’s leading experts on the weaving of willow wands, Gale — who lives in Norwich, New York — now focuses significant energy on the research and preservation of the style of German immigrant willow weavers who settled in Liverpool 150 years ago.
The willow industry began here 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 willow basket weavers were producing an estimated 300,000 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.
For local folks interested in learning how to make a handbasket in the Liverpool style, Gale will teach a free two-day class on making an Early American Life Lunch basket, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 14 and 15. The class will meet under a tent erected on the Gleason Mansion lawn, 314 Second St., next to the Liverpool Willow Museum in the village.
“It will take both days to complete this beginning basket,” Gale said.
The lunch basket designed by Gale was featured in the October 1992 issue of the “Early American Life” magazine.
“It is made of unpeeled willow with a round base in pairing weave, followed by staking up, waling and flared siding in French randing weave,” Gale explained. “Top waling, double border and wrapped handle complete the basket.”
Those techniques are common to those used in historic Liverpool basketry.
“This is an excellent beginning willow basket and provides a lot of the basic techniques used in the old Liverpool baskets,” Gale said. “It is a joy to make and demonstrates the intrinsic functionality of willow baskets.”
There is no charge for the workshop, which is sponsored by the Historical Association of Greater Liverpool; however, space is limited. Gale will accept a maximum of 12 students, so early registration is advised. Participants must attend both days of the workshop. A list of simple supplies to bring to class will be provided upon registration.
To register, please call or email Bonnie Gale at 607-336-9031 or [email protected]. Leave your phone number and email (if you have one) so she can provide you the list of supplies to bring to class. You are not registered until she makes contact with you.
“No drop-ins, please,” Gale advises.
The adjacent Liverpool Willow Museum will be open from 2 to 4 p.m. on both days of the workshop. Museum entrance is free, and the public is encouraged to view the museum as well as to view the class in progress.
This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts administered by CNY Arts. The Historical Association of Greater Liverpool provided additional funding.
