Forums > Areas > Central Highlands

elcomputo

Feb 14, 2005, 8:30 PM

Post #1 of 12 (812 views)

Shortcut

Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

Anybody know of any small villages around SMA where the residents make baskets to order? I'm looking for tall (maybe four meters) and square-ish baskets to use for packing stuff into the van and then at home for dirty clothes hampers and such. All I see in town are small, round, over-priced baskets.

esperanza

Feb 14, 2005, 8:45 PM

Post #2 of 12 (807 views)

Shortcut

Re: [elcomputo] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

The exact baskets you want are made in Tzintzuntzan, near Pátzcuaro--a few hours south of San Miguel. It's pretty likely that someone sells them at the Tuesday Market, though.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Cynthia7

Feb 14, 2005, 10:00 PM

Post #3 of 12 (804 views)

Shortcut

Re: [esperanza] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

Have you been to the basket shop near the Oratorio- by the Mexican library?? Or the one on Mesones by Bolanza or the Tuesday market. I have tried using them for laundry hampers but the top rim does not last long and they unravel. We travel exclusively with those plastic bins and boxes - in the car, on the airplanes. They come in all sizes - obtainable at Gigante but a larger selection at Walmart in Queretaro. At first I traveled on the airplanes with 32 gallon plastic garbage cans - at that time they allowed 3 - now they allow 2. I now use 32 gallon bins - duct taped for closing. They are great for storing things, verman and insect proof and good in the ultravlet sunlight.

Carol Schmidt

Feb 15, 2005, 8:35 AM

Post #4 of 12 (785 views)

Shortcut

Re: [elcomputo] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

Those plastic colorful plaid bolsas, especially the ones with zippers, are excellent for packing and traveling, too. We take them on the buses to supplement our suitcase. The simple ones sold at Tuesday Market, not the fancy ones with sequined Fridas, of course.

Carol Schmidt

Carol Schmidt

Feb 15, 2005, 3:58 PM

Post #5 of 12 (764 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Carol Schmidt] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

I also noticed large baskets, but rounded, not square, on sale at that small corner open-air furniture store on Ancha San Antonio across from Interceramica. The old woman and her son who run it might be able to order special sizes and shapes for you, depending on their suppliers. Worth asking.

We used to use woven baskets for our laundry when I was a kid and they could hold a wet load of laundry, but I wonder how strong they are for anything really heavy that would get banged around a bit in moving?

Carol Schmidt

elcomputo

Feb 15, 2005, 6:29 PM

Post #6 of 12 (751 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Carol Schmidt] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

Thanks, everyone, for the information. I have looked at the Tuesday market stalls and have not found baskets. I'll look harder. I'll also check out that place on Ancha and the other stores.

I have seen some medium-sized baskets sold by the woman who peddles mainly crude furniture in the otherwise vacant corner lot on Ancha just a block south of the Instituto. But she asks $280 pesos for them, which seems pretty steep to me, judging by their quality (or lack thereof).

I, too, wondered about the strength of those baskets. There was one left by a former tenant in the place I've been renting and, oddly enough, the lid on this one has remained in one piece while the rest has unraveled to the point where the basket's become half its original size.

It's sad to think this may be another lost art in Mexico. The Indians of California whom the Spanish crushed (and the Anglos finished off) made baskets of such tight weaves that they could hold water and were so nearly indestructable that many are still in existance. (Most, admittedly, were very small.) It would be reasonable to think there must have been Indian tribes in Mexico who had the same talent. The Mexicans are still terrific at making rugs, so I hoped that somewhere they might still making fabulous baskets. I guess not.

Plastic boxes or even cardboard boxes are probably preferable to baskets for transporting goods. I was hoping for something that would continue to be useful and attractive after I got back to the States.

esperanza

Feb 15, 2005, 7:15 PM

Post #7 of 12 (745 views)

Shortcut

Re: [elcomputo] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

Martin, you sure jumped a long way from looking for utilitarian baskets to believing that no well-crafted baskets are made in Mexico.

I'd say look first in the state of Chihuahua. The Tarahumara make absolutely lovely pine needle baskets that will last for centuries, retaining their marvelous fragrance the entire time. I regret that I sold three finely woven miniature baskets from the 19th Century that were still redolent of the pine forest the day they left my hands.

Then you might want to travel over to the state of Sonora and visit the Seri, who make glorious baskets called Coritas.

Let's see...after that, you could run over to Michoacán to visit some of the artisans in Ihuatzio, most notably Mario López, to see the kinds of wonderful creations there. While you're right there in the neighborhood, go to Tzintzuntzan to see what's being made there, and plan your trip so that you're in Pátzcuaro, Uruapan, or some of the indigenous villages around Palm Sunday. You'll be amazed by what's being produced there--the most elaborately beautiful creations.

Then you could whiz over to Veracruz to have a look at woven palm baskets and other goods. After that, you're off to Puebla to see the finely woven petates, then to Oaxaca and the Yucatan for more baskets and other containers, then...

Well, you get my point. What you see in your markets may not be representative of what's available in the regions where the goods are created. And you may not have been looking closely till now--go back and look again at what's around you.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

(This post was edited by esperanza on Feb 15, 2005, 8:01 PM)

elcomputo

Feb 15, 2005, 7:48 PM

Post #8 of 12 (740 views)

Shortcut

Re: [esperanza] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

Well, you're obviously up on your baskets. So, rather than my bopping around Mexico on this go-around, what would you suggest might be my best best for well-made, but utilitarian, baskets? Or, as an alternative, maybe not terrifically-made but fairly sturdy utilitarian baskets at pretty good prices? I especially like the idea of the Chihuahuan or Sonoran products, as they are on the way north. But I'm also up to a bus trip south to pick up some good woven containers.

esperanza

Feb 15, 2005, 7:59 PM

Post #9 of 12 (737 views)

Shortcut

Re: [elcomputo] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

Go to Tzintzuntzan (just outside Pátzcuaro) and you'll find exactly the hampers you're looking for, in a variety of sizes. I bought one six years ago to use as a laundry hamper, use it daily, and it's still in mint condition. However, I would bet you 5 pesos that there's a vendor from Tzintzuntzan at the Tuesday market. If they come all the way from there to Lake Chapala, they surely go to SMA.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

elcomputo

Feb 22, 2005, 7:35 AM

Post #10 of 12 (660 views)

Shortcut

Re: [esperanza] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

I found two places in SMA that sell baskets, and the prices are quite decent. One is just around the corner, headed south, from the end of Insurgentes (across from the Oratorio) where the buses end their runs. If you keep on going, cross Mesones, turn left, and cross the next street, you will come to a shop a few doors up, directly across from the Plaza Central, noticeable for all the birdcages displayed. Baskets are in the back. The prices are the same in both places, though the structure seems a bit odd. For example, a square, lidless basket with no handles was 300, while a larger, round basket with a lid was 100. Is it more difficult to weave square baskets?

elcomputo

Feb 22, 2005, 11:23 PM

Post #11 of 12 (635 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Cynthia7] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

I just re-read your reply and realized the two stores I ended up going to were the two you listed. The one closer to the Oratorio seems to have strange hours. I went there on a Saturday afternoon, and it was closed.

I think all the baskets are constructed such that they can unravel easily. The makers don't seem compelled to tie down the loose ends when they're done. I supposed it's tradition to leave them that way, as tradition apparently rules everything in Mexico.

Carol Schmidt

Feb 23, 2005, 6:52 AM

Post #12 of 12 (624 views)

Shortcut

Re: [elcomputo] Baskets

Can't Post | Private Reply

I used to make baskets and yes, I found square ones harder to make than round ones, but not triple the effort to explain triple the cost. The materials may have been thicker, there may have been a more intricate pattern, or maybe the vendor found that square ones were more popular and people would pay more. Haven't you stopped trying to find logical reasons for prices here, Elcomputo? <g>

Carol Schmidt