Basket

Ed Rossbach, Basket, 1983, ash, bamboo, synthetic raffia, plastic, string, and paint, 21 ³⁄₄ x 8 ¹⁄₂ x 8 in. (55.2 x 21.6 x 20.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Theodore Cohen in memory of his mother and her sisters: Rose Melmon Cohen, Blanche Melmon, Mary Melmon Greenberg and Fanny Melmon Liberman, 1998.122.18

Artwork Details

Title: Basket
Artist: Ed Rossbach
Date: 1983
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 21 ³⁄₄ x 8 ¹⁄₂ x 8 in. (55.2 x 21.6 x 20.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Theodore Cohen in memory of his mother and her sisters: Rose Melmon Cohen, Blanche Melmon, Mary Melmon Greenberg and Fanny Melmon Liberman
Mediums: plastic
plant material
wood
Mediums Description: ash, bamboo, synthetic raffia, plastic, string, and paint
Classifications: Decorative Arts
Object Number: 1998.122.18
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1998.122.18

Artwork Description

Basket employs splints, or thin layers of wood chiseled out of larger pieces. Ed Rossbach combined these with paint and plastic in a large vessel that calls attention to its own structure. The plaiting differs in scale, growing smaller towards the top of the piece, while the reinforcing strips on the side and the twining around the top offer a record of Rossbach's changes in thought and process as the work took shape.