HOTUBA: Gold Pinstripe Woven Storage Basket
Boasting stylish pinstripes in sundial white against a natural sisal base, our HOTUBA baskets are handwoven in Kenya from local sisal in three different sizes, so there is one for almost every home storage need. One wonderful thing about woven baskets is that they keep meeting your storage needs over time: fill yours with pens and pencils if you need a stylish desk tidy, or use yours for make-up and jewellery on your dressing table. Use a small basket for remote controls and cables, and our medium and large woven baskets make lovely storage for slippers, gloves, scarves and rugs, toys, laundry and craft projects. These natural pinstripe baskets also make beautiful woven planters for your houseplants – and we can’t think of a more perfect new home gift for someone who loves a natural home.
The craftswomen who produce these HOTUBA natural woven baskets all learned to weave sisal from a young age, and practise their craft within a small collective in rural Kenya. We visit this talented group as often as we can, and have built a strong bond with the craftswomen and their inspiring chairlady, Madam Dorcas over the years. Before we started working with this group, these weavers would have to make the long journey to Nairobi to sell their woven baskets at markets. These days, the women work safely and more efficiently from home, thanks to our ability to place regular and large basket orders with this group.
The bulk of basket production takes place during Kenya’s dry seasons, since most of these weavers are from farming communities who rely on farming – and therefore, steady rainfall - to feed, support and clothe their families. When farming slows down, weaving work picks up the slack. Purchasing one of our woven baskets helps us in our mission to empower African craftswomen and preserve this age-old craft. You can read more about these weavers HERE.
Material: SISAL & BRANDED LEATHER TAB
Dimensions (approx):
If you need a specific size please let us know prior to placing your order.
Please note, as this is a handmade product, dimensions & colour may vary from those shown in the photographs.
HANDMADE IN KENYA
Our journey into sustainable style began in Kenya, and the lion’s share of our woven baskets are Kenyan-made. Whilst every region of Kenya boasts its own rich natural bounty, each cooperative we partner with offers expertise in its own unique form of basketry. Weaving, dyeing and grass-rolling techniques differ across the regions as much as basket shapes, patterns and structures. These precious crafts are woven through the generations within families - passed along continuous thread from mother to daughter - protecting and preserving an art form as old as man.
Vast and colourful, vibrant and bursting with natural beauty and style, our fair trade baskets are as eclectic as their homeland and its people. From sisal grass to doum palm, banana leaf fibres to palm leaf, each weaving cooperative works with what is locally available and only what can be sustainably sourced, to produce beautiful baskets which are 100% Kenyan made, and ethically produced. All cow hide bag tags, straps, and basket labels are made from leather sourced as a by-product of the food industry. Natural dyes come from pounded roots, bark and vegetables of the region, whilst all synthetic dyes are sustainably sourced.
From the Kamba tribe to the camel-herding Ariaal pastoralists of Northern Kenya, you can read more about the lives of the Kenyan weavers we work with - and the wonderful baskets they produce - below.
