Basket, a vessel made by interweaving twigs or reeds, grasses, leaves, metal or glass wire, whalebone, or any similar material. Baskets differ greatly in their forms, sizes, and the uses to which they are applied, from the rudest utensils of necessity to the most delicately wrought articles of luxury and taste. A breastwork on the parapet of a trench is sometimes formed of what is called baskets of earth (corbeils), which are so placed as to allow the soldiers to fire between them, sheltered from the fire of the enemy. - Basket making is one of the simplest and most ancient of the arts. The Romans found wicker boats covered with skins in use among the ancient natives of Britain. Round boats of wicker-work covered with bitumen or skins were used on the Tigris and Euphrates in the times of Herodotus; and similar boats, about 7 ft. in diameter, are still used there. In India boats of a similar form and construction are still in use in crossing the less rapid rivers; they are made of bamboo and skins, requiring only a few hours1 labor; they are about 12 ft. in diameter and 4 deep, are navigated with oars or poles, or towed by oxen or men, and are sometimes used to transport large armies and heavy artillery.

The ancient Britons manufactured wicker vessels with extraordinary skill and ingenuity; their costly and elegant baskets are mentioned by Juvenal in speaking of the extravagance of the Romans in his time. The natives of South America make baskets of rushes so closely woven as to hold liquids; their manufacture and sale throughout the Spanish countries is very extensive. The natives of Tasmania wove similar water-tight vessels of leaves. The Caffres and Hottentots possess equal skill in weaving the roots of certain plants. Shields in ancient times were constructed of wickerwork, plain or covered with hides; they are still thus made among savage tribes. Wickerwork is now largely used for the bodies of light carriages. On the continent of Europe Holstein wagons, carriages drawn by two horses and carrying several persons, are made almost entirely of wicker-work. In different parts of the world, houses, huts, gates, fences, sledges, and shoes, and other articles of use and ornament, are formed by this ancient and universal art. - In making baskets, the twigs or rods, being assorted according to their size and use, and being left considerably longer than the work to be woven, are arranged on the floor in pairs parallel to each other and at small intervals apart, and in the direction of the longer diameter of the basket.

Then two large rods are laid across the parallel ones, with their thick ends toward the workman, who is to put his foot on them, thereby holding them firm, and weave them one at a time alternately over and under those first laid down, confining them in their places. This forms the foundation of the basket, and is technically called the slat or slate. Then the long end of one of these two rods is woven over and under the pairs of short ends, all around the bottom, till the whole is woven in. The same is done with the other rod, and then additional long ones are woven in, till the bottom of the basket is of sufficient size. The sides are formed by sharpening the large ends of enough stout rods to form the ribs, and plaiting or forcing the sharpened ends into the bottom of the basket, from the circumference toward the centre; then raising the rods in the direction the sides of the basket are to have, and weaving other rods between them till the basket is of the required depth. The brim is formed by bending down and fastening the perpendicular sides of the ribs, whereby the whole is firmly and compactly united.

A handle is fitted to the basket by forcing two or three sharpened rods of the right length down the weaving of the sides, close to each other, and pinning them fast about two inches i below the brim, so that the handle may retain its position when completed. The ends of the rods are then bound or plaited in any way the workman chooses. This is a basket of the rudest kind. Others will vary according to the artist's purpose, skill, and materials. When whole rods or twigs are not adapted to the kind of work required, they are divided into splits and skeins. Splits are made by cleaving the rod lengthwise into four parts, by means of an implement consisting of two blades, crossing each other at right angles, the intersection of which passes down the pith of the rod. These splits are next drawn through an implement resembling a common spoke-shave, keeping the pith presented to the edge of the iron, and the back of the split against the wood of the implement. The split is then passed through another implement, called an upright, to bring it to a more uniform shape.

This consists of a flat piece of steel, each end of which has a cutting edge, like that of an ordinary chisel; this piece is bent round, and the edges are made to approach each other as near as desired by means of screws, the whole being fixed into a handle. By passing the splits between these two edges, they are reduced to any required thickness. The implements required in basket making are few and simple, consisting, besides those just mentioned, of knives, bodkins, and drills for boring, leads for steadying the work while in progress, and when it is of small dimensions, and a piece of iron called a beater. - The splints of various kinds of wood, particularly certain species of ash, elm, and birch, are extensively employed in basket work. These splints are obtained by beating logs of the wood with a maul, thus loosening and separating the different layers or rings into narrow strips. This is the simple and primitive process, and is necessarily slow, and restricted to woods of a free texture. Several machines have been invented and are now employed for the manufacture of splints, by which different kinds of wood, prepared by steaming or otherwise, are cut or rived into the required form.

Basket willow and osier are terms commonly applied to the species of salix most used in basket work. (See Osier).