SHELL: Seashell and Coral Embroidered Woven Storage Basket
She sells seashells on the seashore! Bring a bit of easy-breezy beach life to the home with our beautiful hand embroidered shell basket, woven from natural undyed and sand-dyed sisal.
Designed by British illustrator and designer Jacqueline Colley and embroidered by Nduta - an artist working in Nairobi - these ethically made baskets are adorned with a blue clamshell and rust-red yarn tendrils representing sea coral, complete with an oyster ‘pearl’ formed from a single metal bead rivet. Sustainable through and through, this brassy coloured bead is made from recycled and sand-casted brass by artisans living in Nairobi’s Kawangware district.
These African baskets are perfect for bathroom storage or for perking up your home office, and will appeal to all of those with a colourful approach to interior accessories. Use yours as a planter for your favourite succulent, as a desk tidy, on your bedside table or in the playroom for keeping craft materials safe.
Attractive and practical, these baskets also serve a crucial purpose for their Kenyan makers. The weavers, taught by their own mothers and grandmothers, make a vital secondary income fulfilling orders from THE BASKET ROOM. In times of pandemic and drought, flexible work like weaving enables these women - who otherwise rely solely on farming income - to better support their families throughout the seasons.
Learn more about the collaboration between the artists HERE.
Material: SISAL, WOOL & BRANDED LEATHER TAB
Dimensions: 14.5-15.5CM DIA X 14.5-15.5CM H
Please note, due to the handmade nature of the basket, the colours may vary to that shown in the photograph.
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.
Meet The Artisans
Who Made Your Basket?
United KingdomPerfect basket for bits and bobs
Very good.arrived quickly.
The Basket Room
Thank you for your review and shopping with us at The Basket Room!
United KingdomShell Basket
I brought this as a special birthday gift for my daughter and it looks beautiful in her room.
The Basket Room
Thank you for your review and shopping with The Basket Room, we'd love to see the basket in its new home!
