Perhaps few of us would now even take a second glance at this flask, but there’s very fine craftsmanship going on here. I reckon not many of us basketmakers here in the UK could nowadays make a passable replica. It takes a lot of time to make the skeins, (very thin strips of willow), and then a lot more time to weave them so delicately, beginning with the base of the bottle and finishing so perfectly at the lid.
It’s such a lovely tactile object to hold, soft and warm. The white willow with age has become a mellow golden that glows. Not only decorative and tactile, the willow’s purpose is to protect the bottle from breaking.
My latest antique stall find - a Victorian / Edwardian flask. It’s a 7”glass bottle covered in skeined white willow with a silver screw top lid. When made, the bottom third of the flask would have fit snuggly into a silver cup.
Perhaps few of us would now even take a second glance at this flask, but there’s very fine craftsmanship going on here. I reckon not many of us basketmakers here in the UK could nowadays make a passable replica. It takes a lot of time to make the skeins, (very thin strips of willow), and then a lot more time to weave them so delicately, beginning with the base of the bottle and finishing so perfectly at the lid. It’s such a lovely tactile object to hold, soft and warm. The white willow with age has become a mellow golden that glows. Not only decorative and tactile, the willow’s purpose is to protect the bottle from breaking.
A pretty large flask full of whisky, I can imagine it being brought out and offered around during a grand shooting party... Tally-ho!