The Niger Bend

This basket is woven by hand by women in the wet and swampy regions of Benin, of swamp grass, a renewable, plentiful and eco-friendly material. A medium sized basket, it is fairly cylindrical although it tapers toward the top; this makes it is especially useful in Africa for storing or carrying things. This basket’s weaving is relatively fine and tight, uniform throughout with 6 narrow bands of color, parallel to each other, all around the basket, equidistant from each other, from the top: magenta, dark blue, kelly green, dark blue, kelly green, magenta, with 4 vertical lines of color, featuring combinations of all of those same colors, on a natural background. This finely woven design demonstrates the skill of the ladies who make this traditional craft. This basket is as versatile and useful as a woven plastic sack but beautiful and decorative and, of course, all natural. 17 1/2″ tall x 12″ diam. at the top (44 x 30 cm)