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Small Market and Peck Basket, New England pounded ash basketry, 2007
Milt Lafond (b. 1937)
Chesterfield, Massachusetts
White ash and bass wood, nails
Peck basket (left) 14 1/4 x 12 1/4 x 11 3/4 in. Small market basket 13 1/2 x 17 x 10 3/4 in.
Collection of the artist
Photography by Jason Dowdle
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Using the same molds, tools, and method of construction, Milt Lafond continues a style of basket making that has been passed down for three generations in the same shop. The sturdiness of Milt's pounded white ash baskets reflects their original use in rural agricultural communities. Many years ago, baskets were essential utilitarian tools for harvesting crops. Milt's father-in-law, Ben Higgins sold hundreds of these baskets a year. Milt doesn't produce the volume that Higgins did, but he maintains a lively business at the Basket Shop in Chesterfield, MA.
Milt Lafond undertakes all aspects of the process, from cutting the tree to weaving the basket. He uses white ash trees from native woodlands, which he splits into wedges. He then roughly shapes the wedges with a drawshave, as pictured above, and planes the remaining four-inch piece before pounding. Only ash can stand up to the pounding hammer. It also splits between the growth rings, a unique characteristic. Milt finally weaves the split ash strips into baskets.
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