Basket

Ed Rossbach, Basket, 1983, ash, bamboo, synthetic raffia, plastic, string, and paint, 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
Copied 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
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
Mediums Description
ash, bamboo, synthetic raffia, plastic, string, and paint
Classifications
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.