Travelling Folk Objects: Nine Portuguese Baskets in Wolverhampton

Inês Jorge

Collection: Wolverhampton Art Gallery (World Collections) 

Keywords: Portuguese Basketry, Folk Art, Souvenir Objects, Class and Consumption, Museum Collections.

Ranging from the size of a fingernail to a fruit bowl, nine Portuguese miniature baskets are held at Wolverhampton Art Gallery (fig.1).

The Portuguese miniature baskets form part of a collection of over one hundred baskets formerly owned by Monica Claire Cotterill (née Neame) (1888–1964). She was the youngest daughter of George Harding Neame of Kent, associated with G.F. Neame & Co., a timber merchant and broker based in London. The marriage between Sir Charles Arthur Mander and Monica in 1913, after which she became known as Lady Mander, illustrates how aristocratic families maintained their social status through networks of marriage and social affiliation [2]. Many such families had accumulated wealth through industrial and commercial enterprises, as was the case with both the Neame and the Mander families [3].

By the time of their marriage, the Manders were among Wolverhampton’s most prominent families, largely due to the success of Mander Brothers. Established in 1773, the firm developed into a major chemical manufacturing enterprise [4]. By the Edwardian period, Mander Brothers had become Britain’s chief manufacturer of paints and varnishes. Their products were widely used to finish goods made across Britain, providing durability and surface protection for a wide range of materials. This commercial success enabled the Manders to enter the landed country gentry and to participate actively in civic life, including serving as mayors of Wolverhampton [5].

The ability to travel abroad had long been a marker of aristocratic privilege within the family Monica Mander married into. In the first of a three-volume history of the Mander family, her grandson, Sir Charles Nicholas Mander, portrays them as socially and culturally sophisticated, with access to foreign travel, wide social networks, marriage alliances, and support for the arts [6]. Although inevitably partial, this account aligns closely with Mander’s own practices as a traveller and collector, helping to explain how she assembled objects from such a wide range of geographical contexts.

During her extensive travels, Mander assembled a vast collection of baskets from across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas (fig.2). Numbering over one hundred examples, some were acquired directly, while others appear to have been received as gifts, reflecting the social networks that shaped her collecting practices. She left these objects to Bantock House, an Edwardian manor now operated by Wolverhampton City Council’s Arts and Museums service, and they were later incorporated into the World Collections of Wolverhampton Art Gallery [7]. The gallery also holds collections of fine and decorative arts, many emphasising British traditions; yet these baskets might equally be understood within such categories.

Their placement within the World Collections reflects a classification system structured primarily around geography - ‘British’ versus ‘non-British’ - rather than material or function. In this sense, the Portuguese baskets reveal how museum taxonomies can reproduce hierarchies, framing non-British handmade objects within an ethnographic context even when their form aligns with European decorative arts. While the Mander family collected widely, Mander’s baskets form a relatively focused body of material, suggesting sustained engagement with basketry as a portable and globally available craft form.

Most of the baskets still carry one or more historic paper labels indicating a number, a place of origin, and a name – likely that of the person who gifted her the basket. This labelling system suggests an attempt to organise the collection in a way that documented both geographical reach and social networks, effectively transforming the baskets into markers of cosmopolitan mobility and elite sociability. The numbers used to refer to each basket in this essay correspond to Mander’s original paper labels.

At first glance, the baskets appear well documented. A closer look, however, reveals gaps and inconsistencies: places of origin are variously recorded, technical terms are used unevenly, and some baskets lack sufficient description. This object-in-focus essay addresses these issues by reassessing the provenance and classification of the nine Portuguese baskets, proposing clearer, more complete, and accurate descriptions that may be of practical use to the gallery for collections management, research, and display.

The analysis is grounded in close visual examination, supported by comparisons with examples from the Hundreds of Baskets exhibition (see below) and related research, as well as secondary literature on Portuguese and international basketry and other Portuguese crafts [8]. The accompanying image captions combine existing collection data with these additions, indicating where interpretation or correction has been applied.

The nine baskets appear to document Mander’s travels across mainland and insular Portugal. Their numbering from 30 to 39, with 36 absent, suggests a sequential grouping, likely organised by place of origin.

According to the Wolverhampton Art Gallery collection records, baskets numbered 31, 35 and 37 are described as ‘shallow baskets with decorative open sides and two handles which join together’ [9]. Despite differences in size, their identical design suggests they form part of a set, possibly acquired together (fig.3 and fig.4). Mander’s original paper labels identify them as originating from ‘Madiera’ – a misspelling of Madeira – yet the gallery records classify them as Azorean [10]. Since both Madeira and the Azores are Autonomous Regions of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean, the discrepancy points to uncertainty rather than error.

These baskets closely resemble a miniature example currently displayed in the exhibition Hundreds of Baskets at Lisbon’s Museum of Popular Art [11]. Its curators, Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, grouped Portuguese basketry into four main techniques – plaited, woven, coiled, and braided – each with regional and technical variants (fig.5) [12].

Woven basketry

Miniature baskets numbered 30, 33 and 38 belong to woven basketry (fig.6 and fig.7). This technique is based on two elements - the warp (fixed supports) and the weft (the material woven through them). The fibres are passed over and under the structural framework to build the basket, in a manner comparable to textile weaving [13]. All three use the wicker variant, where the weft passes perpendicularly over and under the warps.

Wicker basketry is usually made from osier or basket willow (Salix species) and has long traditions in Northern and Western Europe [14]. In Portugal, Salix Viminalis was once common and has recently been reintroduced in some regions for environmental and craft purposes [15].

Although not recorded as a set, despite their different sizes, baskets numbered 30, 33 and 38 share a similar overall form, with a slightly narrowed middle, twisted rims, and wrapped handles (fig.1). Basket numbered 33 is distinguished by an open lattice section, created by spacing the vertical supports further apart. Paper labels on baskets numbered 30 and 33 identify them as Azorean, while basket numbered 38 has no label but closely matches the group in form and technique.

Basket numbered 32 is the smallest, no larger than a fingernail (fig.8). It is also made using the wicker technique. Its fragile condition - shown by a broken handle and protective storage - highlights how delicate miniature basketry can be. Although it is simply recorded as Portuguese, its scale raises questions about how it was used and demonstrates the high level of skill required to make it.

Plaited basketry 

Plaited basketry is made by crossing fibres over and under each other in diagonal or straight patterns, with all strands remaining active in the structure.

The miniature basket in Lisbon is plaited, likely made of broom or white broom. Its base forms a star-shaped pattern created by diagonally crossed rods - a variant of plaited basketry known as Star Pattern (figs 9-10) [16]. The wrapped handle rises in a smooth arch, combining strength with a delicate appearance. It was acquired by Lisbon’s National Museum of Ethnology in 1963 and is recorded as coming from Ponta Delgada, on São Miguel Island in the Azores [17]. Based on similarities in form, baskets numbered 31, 35, and 37 may also be Azorean, suggesting that the Wolverhampton classification is plausible.

According to the museum record, this type of basket was rarely used in daily life and was often made for tourists [18]. Mander’s interest in miniature baskets may therefore reflect practical reasons - they were easy to transport - and symbolic ones, as souvenirs that condensed place, craft, and experience into portable form. Other similar baskets identified as mainland fruit-picking containers blur the line between souvenir and tool, showing how everyday designs were adapted for different uses and how techniques moved across regions [19].

The differences in spelling and attribution across records show how meanings change when objects move between places and are later reclassified in museums. These shifts often reflect practical limits of documentation, as well as differences in language and local knowledge.

While most of the baskets are now in storage, basket numbered 34 is on display at Bantock House. It has two paper labels, including one identifying its origin as Madeira and ‘J.W. Wilson’, a possible donor (fig.11). While the paper label correctly spells Madeira, the transcription in the collection records repeats the earlier misspelling and assigns the basket to the Azores. The basket closely resembles an example of unknown origin from the National Museum of Ethnology (fig.12). The object label in the Hundreds of Baskets exhibition describes this miniature basket as being plaited in Madeira weave, a variant in which the strands are woven diagonally. Given the similarity between the two baskets, one might once again assume that Mander’s miniature basket was meant for tourist consumption, while its form draws on baskets made for household use.

The display of basket numbered 34 at Bantock House is particularly revealing. It appears in a domestic-style cabinet alongside other woven and non-woven containers, ceramic serving pieces, tea wares likely from British pottery centres such as Staffordshire, cooking utensils connected to regional metalworking traditions, and sanitary items typical of the nineteenth-century home. Together, these objects tell a wider story of everyday life in the home. This arrangement shows how domestic objects changed over time, bringing older handmade crafts into conversation with the mass-produced ceramics and metalwares that became common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

In this setting, the Portuguese basket may appear as a practical household object, though its placement among objects linked to important craft and industrial techniques also recognises basketry as part of that broader history of making and use. This type of display can blur the line between crafted artefact and everyday tool, reflecting long-standing hierarchies that placed basketry outside the category of fine art. Yet the basket’s refined construction and small scale challenge that view, suggesting instead that it was also valued as an object of beauty, exchange, and display.

Basket numbered 39 is the most complex example (fig.13). It is plaited in Madeira weave and combines braided elements within a highly intricate structure, featuring a domed lid and finely patterned sides (fig.14) [20]. Its form suggests a functional container, possibly for food, yet its fine finish and complexity indicate a basket intended to impress. Although both the paper label and the Wolverhampton Art Gallery collection records identify it as Madeiran, their website classifies it as Azorean [21]. Its uncertain origin once again shows how difficult it can be to trace these objects accurately through museum records and labels.

Conclusion 

All nine baskets belong to fine basketry, which requires careful material selection, precision, and strong control of form. Unlike coarser baskets associated with agricultural or industrial labour, they are typically linked to domestic, festive, or decorative contexts [22]. Taken together, they show basketry as a practice where craft skill, tourism, and elite collecting meet.

While their movement across places shaped how they were labelled, exchanged, and displayed, the baskets themselves remained largely consistent in their technique and form, with variation mostly limited to scale, finish, and decoration. What changed more significantly was how they were understood. As they moved through contexts of collecting and museum display, their meanings were reframed, challenging perceived divisions between craft and art.

Within Wolverhampton’s collections, these objects also help broaden how craft is understood in the Midlands. They show how regional museum collections are shaped by global histories of travel and exchange, and how even small handmade objects can connect local displays to wider stories of making, value, and cultural interpretation.

Inês Jorge is an independent researcher and Centenary Restoration Fund Project Officer at Re-Form Heritage. She completed her PhD in History of Art at the University of Birmingham in 2024.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Clare Hanks, Collections Officer at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, for welcoming me into the storage, sharing collection records and insights on Monica Mander’s baskets, and for her thoughtful comments on early drafts of this essay. My thanks also go to Iria Simões at the National Museum of Ethnology for kindly providing photographs and copyright information for baskets in their collection. Heartfelt thanks to Dr Claire Jones for her unwavering support. I am especially grateful to Dr Elizabeth Lamle, Dr Idalina Jorge, and Dr Viriato Queiroga for their enthusiasm and encouragement as I began this journey into basketry. Finally, I thank the Design History Society for awarding a Decolonising Design History grant, which supports the presentation of an expanded version of this essay at the Agents of Change workshop in Brno.

Notes

[1] An expanded version of this essay is presented at the workshop Agents of Change: Folk Cultures in the Long 20th Century at Masaryk University, Brno, in June 2026.

[2] Charles Nicholas Mander, Varnished Leaves: A Biography of the Mander Family of Wolverhampton, 1750–1950 (Dursley, 2004) p.xiv.

[3] Ibid., p.371.

[4] Ibid., p.xiii.

[5] Ibid., p.xiv.

[6] Ibid., p.xv.

[7] Owlpen Manor, Gloucestershire: A Short History and Guide to a Romantic Tudor Manor House in the Cotswolds (Owlpen, 2006), pp.54-55.

[8] For studies and resources on Portuguese and international basketry, see: Carla Paoliello and Ana Thudichum Vasconcelos, Preserving and Communicating Natural Traditions (Lisbon, 2024); ‘Basketry in the Azores’, Basketry and Beyond, [https://www.basketryandbeyond.org.uk/basketry-azores/], accessed 5 April 2026; Rui de Abreu de Lima, Cestaria Tradicional Portuguesa. Feira Internacional de Artesanato (Lisbon, 1993); Dorothy Wright, The Complete Book of Baskets and Basketry (Vancouver, 1977). For ethnographic drawings of Portuguese basketry and other crafts, see Fernando Galhano, Desenho Etnográfico de Fernando Galhano (Lisbon, 1985) vol.1. For studies on Portuguese crafts: Maria Manuela Restivo, ‘Arte Popular e Artesanato em Portugal: Atores, Redes e Narrativas’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Porto (2022).

[9] 2026, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, object files for Portuguese baskets numbered 31 (M182.31), 35 (M182.35), and 37 (M182.37).

[10] Ibid.

[11] ‘Popular Art Museum’, Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, [https://www.museusemonumentos.pt/en/museus-e-monumentos/museu-de-arte-popular], accessed 15 February 2026.

[12] These are respectively called ‘cruzado’, ‘encanastrado’, ‘espiral cosida’ and ‘entrançado’ in Portuguese. Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, ‘Técnicas e Materiais/Techniques & Materials’, Hundreds of Baskets, exhibition text, Museum of Popular Art (Lisbon, 2025–6).

[13] Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, ‘Encanastrado/Woven’, Hundreds of Baskets, exhibition text, Museum of Popular Art (Lisbon, 2025–6).

[14] Wright (1977), p.10.

[15] Paoliello and Vasconcelos (2024), p.15.

[16] This is called ‘Padrão Estrela’ in Portuguese. Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, ‘Técnicas Cruzadas e Entrelaçadas: Cruzado/Woven Techniques: Plaited’, Hundreds of Baskets, exhibition text, Museum of Popular Art (Lisbon, 2025–6). ‘Miniatura de Cesto’, Raiz, [https://raiz.museusemonumentos.pt/DetalhesObra?id=89098&tipo=OBJ], accessed 15 February 2026.

[17] ‘National Museum of Ethnology’, Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, [https://www.museusemonumentos.pt/en/museus-e-monumentos/museu-de-etnologia], accessed 15 February 2026. Astrid Suzano and Fatima Durkee, ’92 – Miniatura de Cesta/Miniature Basket’, Hundreds of Baskets, object label, Museum of Popular Art (Lisbon, 2025–6).

[18] ‘Miniatura de Cesto’.

[19] Lima (1993), p.22.

[20] 2026, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, object file for Portuguese basket numbered 39 (M182.39).

[21] ‘Basket’, Wolverhampton Arts & Culture, [https://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/collections/getrecord/WAGMU_M182_39], accessed 22 February 2026.

[22] Lima (1993), p.18. Suzano and Durkee, ‘Técnicas e Materiais/Techniques & Materials’ (Lisbon, 2025–6).