A collection of baskets hand made in Sinnai, Sardinia.
The raw materials used are rush and wheat straw collected after harvest. The most traditional shape is the upside down bell. The baskets are weaved by coiling straw in a spiral over a small bundle of rush or straw, using needlepoint to tie the resulting braid together. The black and white textile is a very typical from Sardinia.
Traditionally the main use of baskets was related to the domestic production of flour and bread, since the major economic activity of the region was agricultural.
The basket weaving tradition in Sinnai is very ancient, as already mentioned in the 1800s by Alberto Della Marmora, who likens the baskets of Sinnai to those recovered in Egyptian tombs, further stressing the strongly practical character of these baskets, though modestly decorated.