Friday, May 1, 2009

Ben Higgins' Basket

This is a basket from my collection. It was woven by Ben Higgins (1894-1981) of Chesterfield, MA. Ben was a prolific basket weaver working in white ash as his father had before him. This particular basket is referred to as an "automobile lunch" basket as it was designed to fit the running board of cars of the era.

The basket still bares the rubber stamped signature "Made By B. G. Higgins The Basket Shop Chesterfield, MA".

5 comments:

  1. I love the Higgins basket. Do you know if the shop in Chesterfield, MA is still open and productive? I have several baskets that I bought there in the 80s and 90s.

    Doug Yorke (douglasyorke@yahoo.com)

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  2. I am Ben Higgins grandaughter and I am happy to tell you that the basket shop is indeed still opened. My uncle Milt actually runs the shop and makes baskets.

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    2. I just bought a Ben Higgins basket! Do you have any idea why mine might be stamped with the initials "Jan L."? Thanks!

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    3. Luci, it is my understanding that the basket shop has remained in operation after Ben passed away. My guess is that this is the mark of one of the past or current weavers.

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