Baskets in coiled work

Coiled basketry was introduced into Samoa, and round baskets in various shapes and sizes are now extensively made for the tourist traffic. Though foreign, the technique has been adapted to local material and merits a brief description. The foundation of the coil is coconut leaflet, midrib or strip of the leaf midrib (lapalapa) which may be varied in size according to the position in the work, being narrower and thinner towards the centre of the coil where work commences. Only one foundation strip is used, forming what Otis Mason (21, p. 246) termed a single-rod foundation. The wrapping and stitch material consists of bleached pandanus leaf split into strips about 0.2 inches wide. The strips of midrib in the outer coils are about 0.2 inches wide and barely 0.1 inch thick. The foundation strips are set on edge so that on the flat bottoms of the baskets and the covers the narrower thickness shows, while on the sides the wider widths show outwards.

Baskets commence in the center of the round bottom and the coil is worked from right to left. The foundation strip is wrapped in a close spiral with the pandanus strip. The turns on the outer side towards the worker run page 209obliquely upwards and to the left. The edges of the turns are close together without overlapping. The foundation coils are not brought into close apposition but are kept apart by the transverse turns of the stitch. No needle is used as the stiff end of the pandanus strip can be readily pushed through the space between the coils.

On the bottom the connecting stitches are made from the outer coil round the inner and on the sides with the bottom upwards, from the lower to the upper. The stitch is made from the coil that is being wrapped to the adjacent part of the coil already dealt with. (See figure 110.)

At the commencement the stitches are made close together but after the continuous coil is established the stitches are spaced more widely. They are now arranged to form various patterns as shown in Plate XVI, A. Round or oval platters are also made and the baskets may have a single long handle, or flat covers with a rim. Round baskets with the same stitch are present in the Caroline Islands and the technique may have diffused to Samoa from that area.