The tools used in wicker basket-making are few and simple. This reflects the nature of the craft: the complexity is in the weave sequence, not in the equipment. A traditional basket-maker in Kalisz in 1920 and one working today would recognise each other's tools without difficulty.
Willow Species Used in Poland
Not all willow is suitable for basketry. The key quality is flexibility combined with enough strength to hold tension over long periods without cracking. The following species have been documented in Polish craft practice:
- Salix viminalis (Common Osier) — the most widely cultivated basket willow in Poland. Long, straight shoots with few side branches. Grows quickly on damp ground and can be harvested annually. The standard choice for rods used as weavers.
- Salix purpurea (Purple Willow) — produces finer, more flexible rods. Used for detailed work and for the thin weavers in decorative pieces. Less common in commercial cultivation but recorded in the Noteć valley areas.
- Salix triandra (Almond-leaved Willow) — coarser than viminalis, used for stakes where rigidity is needed. Documented in agricultural basket production in the Łęczyca district.
- Salix alba (White Willow) — primarily a tree rather than a coppiced shrub, but young shoots from pollarded trees were used in larger structural work and in fish trap construction.
Most cultivated basket willows in Poland were grown as stools — plants cut back to a low stump annually to produce multiple straight rods. Plantations of this type, called wikliniarnie, were common in the flood plains around Kalisz and along the lower Warta through the early 20th century.
Harvesting and Grading
Rods are harvested in late autumn after the leaves have fallen, or in early spring before bud break. At these times the rods are dormant and the bark is still tightly attached. Summer harvest is possible but produces rods that are more difficult to strip and more prone to splitting during weaving.
After harvest, rods are sorted by length and diameter into grades. The traditional grading used by Kalisz cooperative records distinguishes four categories:
- Stakes (tyczki): thick, stiff rods 90–150 cm long, used as structural uprights
- Weavers (wiązki): medium rods 60–100 cm, the main working material
- Fine weavers (cienkie): thin flexible rods under 60 cm, used for tight work and finishing
- Buff rods: rods stripped and boiled before drying, producing a uniform tan colour
Preparation: Soaking and Stripping
Dried rods must be re-wetted before use. Brown wicker — rods dried with the bark intact — requires soaking in cold water. The duration depends on rod diameter and age: thin rods may need 30 minutes; thick stakes 24 hours or more. Properly soaked rods are flexible without being wet through; they should bend without cracking but not feel waterlogged.
White wicker is produced by boiling rods in water for several hours, then stripping the bark while still hot. Boiling opens the bark and loosens it from the wood, making stripping quick. Stripped rods are dried again before sale or use. The boiling also produces the characteristic pale tan colour that distinguishes buff or boiled white wicker from green (unboiled) stripped rods.
Green wicker — rods stripped immediately after harvest while the sap is still running — is rarer in documented Polish practice but appears in some Lower Silesian ethnographic records. Green rods strip easily and weave well but shrink more on drying, which can loosen the finished weave.
Core Hand Tools
The following tools form the standard set documented in Polish and Central European basket-making practice:
- Bodkin (szydło) — a steel spike, usually 15–20 cm, with a flat handle. Used to open gaps in the weave for inserting new rods or handles. The most frequently used tool in the process.
- Rapping iron (ubijak) — a flat or curved metal weight used to tamp down rows of weaving. Ensures even density across the basket wall and compresses the base weave.
- Secateurs or rod knife — for cutting rods to length and trimming ends flush at the border. Traditional makers often used a single-bladed folding knife rather than secateurs, particularly for fine trimming.
- Lap board or weaving board — a flat board rested across the lap to hold the work steady. Simple but necessary for maintaining consistent angle and tension, particularly when working on the base.
- Grease block — a block of tallow or beeswax used to lubricate the bodkin. Reduces friction when opening the weave without wetting the rods.
Dyes and Finishes
Undyed natural wicker in brown or buff tones was the standard for functional baskets. Dyes appear mainly in decorative or market pieces. Documented plant-based dyes used in Polish basket-making include walnut hull (dark brown), onion skin (yellow-orange), and alder bark (grey-green). These were applied to rods before weaving by immersing in the dye bath along with a mordant, typically alum.
Chemical dyes entered the cooperative workshop from the 1920s onward, allowing more consistent colour across large batches. Lacquering and varnishing of finished baskets became common in the inter-war period for export pieces, which required protection against handling and humidity during transit.
Sources
Detailed descriptions of Polish basket-making materials and tools appear in Józef Grabowski's ethnographic survey Sztuka ludowa w Polsce (1967) and in the collection notes of the Ethnographic Museum in Kraków. The Regional Museum in Kalisz holds preserved tool sets from cooperative-era workshops.
Related: Weaving Techniques · History of Basket-Making