Baskets, baskets, baskets and other objects made of woven vegetable fibres were in daily use in the countryside in the 19th and 20th centuries. They were used for transport, market presentation and food packaging. The vast majority of them were made on the farm by peasant families.
In Périgord, most of the peasant baskets were of two types: the basket with chestnut ribs from the forest country, called lo clessaud, and the wicker basket with slatted slats from the vineyard country, called lo boiricon. The latter was particularly the all-purpose farm basket: transporting foodstuffs or linen for the wash-house or harvesting vegetables, which could then be directly washed by soaking the basket.
The more elegant market baskets with their lids and two handles, called grandmother baskets, were made by specialised craftsmen for use in towns.
Illustrations :
– Photograph of the Mussidan poultry market in the summer of 1899 where several grandmother baskets stand out (Photo André Rigaillaud, private collection)
– Detail of a postcard from the stall of a vegetable stall in rue Gambetta in Mussidan around 1900: several boiricons, baskets, Medocain wooden basket. (Collection Chica ©Musée André Voulgre)
– Postcard of the « Art and Basketry » shop in Saint Médard de Mussidan in the 1970s (Escarment Collection)