Historic Nantucket, Special Basket Issue by Nantucket Historical Association

Weaving Nantucket’s Past Into Its Future SPECIAL BASKET EDITION, VOLUME 71, NO. 2

SAVE THE DATE July 18 through July 25, 2021 For the launch of our Online Auction

Offering you the opportunity to bid on exquisitely handcrafted Nantucket Lightship Baskets along with other basket-related items, including a Manny Dias basket tray, a Michael Kane woven bracelet embellished with scrimshaw, plus many more one-of-kind pieces.

ANNIVERSARY

A letter from Daryl Westbrook President of the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum (2006–2021)

Over twenty years ago on Nantucket, a group of forward-thinking people sat around a kitchen table and discussed ways to leverage the success and excitement of the 1994 retrospective exhibit at the Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket Lightship Baskets – 150 Years. The group believed the story of this craft, unique to Nantucket, and woven into the fabric of the Island’s culture, had to be given its rightful place in Nantucket history. Through their tireless efforts, the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum was founded. Flash forward to 2021, a new chapter in the history of the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum (NLBM) begins to unfold. The vision of the founding members, embodied in the NLBM, will live on within the NHA. The permanent collection, lovingly curated and exhibited over the years will have a new home at the NHA properties. Combined with the NHA basket collection and loans from generous collectors, the possibilities are endless for presenting compelling exhibits. The children’s and adult classes that have become a cornerstone of the NLBM’s offering can be expanded with more space and resources. Integrated into the NHA’s lectures will be insightful talks about the history of this evolving craft to educate the public about the past and to inspire some to continue inventing the future with their basket making. Most importantly, the volunteer docents and demonstration weavers, who are what make the NLBM a special place, will be welcomed into the NHA family of interpreters to continue to tell this exciting story to a broader audience. I am truly dizzy with the possibilities the affiliation will afford for those passionate about this important part of Nantucket history. Change is not always easy, but history has shown us that by embracing change we can thrive. The two organizations have much to learn from one another. What we have already learned is that together we are stronger and better positioned to share Nantucket’s rich history, of which lightship basket making is an integral part. Let’s follow in our founding members’ footsteps and boldly embrace the future and write the next chapter in the history of lightship baskets. Please join me on the next chapter of this magical journey. Sincerely,

Daryl Westbrook

HISTORIC NANTUCKET (ISSN 0439-2248) is published by the Nantucket Historical Association, 15 Broad Street, Nantucket, Massachusetts. Periodical postage paid at Nantucket, MA, and additional entry offices. For information visit nha.org. ©2021 by the Nantucket Historical Association.

The Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum formally affiliates with the Nantucket Historical Association Earlier this year, the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum (NLBM) and the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) signed an Affiliation Agreement that has joined the two entities. The boards of both entities approved the affiliation and at a special meeting, the NLBM Membership, voted overwhelmingly to proceed with the affiliation. The Boards are excited that joining forces will provide a larger platform to promote the story of Nantucket lightship baskets. In a joint statement from Daryl Westbrook, NLBM President, and Calvin “Chip” Carver, President NHA: “The NLBM history, tradition and craft will be preserved in a new home at the NHA. We are excited by the possibilities presented by this affiliation and will be guided by how it can best benefit the community. The lightship basket craft is unique to this Island. The craft is very much alive and must be honored, nurtured and treasured.” Further to this, Carver notes: “We are humbled by the trust that the NLBM has placed in us to carry forward their mission of preserving Nantucket's rich history of basket making. Significantly, the NHA family welcomes the NLBM founding-members, members, docents and demonstration weavers as together we weave a new chapter on the Nantucket lightship basket story.” A key part of the affiliation will be the establishment in the years to come of a new gallery dedicated to Nantucket crafts, named the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum Gallery, located at the NHA’s Broad Street campus. Once the existing location of the NLBM at 49 Union Street is sold, the proceeds from the sale will be set aside, in large part, for the creation of this new gallery. This will place the lightship basket story in the heart of Nantucket’s Cultural District. Until this gallery is built, impressive displays will be exhibited at Hadwen House and at the Whaling Museum. One of the reasons that the affiliation between the two organizations is so attractive is that education and scholarship are key tenets of both institutions. As a result of this affiliation, basket making will be integrated into the NHA’s year-round offerings of craft classes for children, youth and adults; and it will be manifested in its research, publications, oral histories and in-person and virtual programming. It is anticipated that the combined lightship basket collection will grow in time, with the goal of building comprehensive and world-class holdings. This year’s exhibit at Hadwen House is curated by basket weaver Kathleen Myers and will feature over 100 baskets from the NLBM, NHA, and private collections. The José Reyes Workshop display has been rehoused in the Decorative Arts Gallery at the Whaling Museum. Special thanks for the diligent work of the Board Affiliation Teams including Susan Blount, Karen Butler, Beth Clyne, Lucy Dillon, Kathleen Myers, Ruth Plandowski and Maryann Wasik.

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The NHA’s First Artifact This basket is the first object collected by the Nantucket Historical Association. Elizabeth Starbuck (1812-1899), in whose house the association was organized in May 1894, lent it to the nascent society within two weeks of its founding, and her heirs donated it permanently in 1928. The basket was woven by Rachel Swain (1771–1863), Elizabeth’s mother, for use as a bassinet to hold her infant children. According to early museum records, Rachel “was the mother of eleven children, and at the advent of each child, this basket was used, and then laid away until occasion again called it into service.” The basket’s association with birth and new beginnings made it an ideal inaugural artifact for the collection, a poetic gesture likely not lost on Elizabeth Starbuck. Rachel Swain was born Rachel Fish and married Jonathan Swain (1769–1843) in March 1791. Their first child arrived the following January, and the basket probably dates from around this time. The names of only nine children are known—five daughters and four sons—with Elizabeth being the youngest.

“The basket’s association with birth and new beginnings made it an ideal inaugural artifact for the collection.”

Table of Contents: Museum History pg. 4 A Collection Comparison pg. 6 Education pg. 12 Exhibition: Weaving Nantucket’s Past Into Its Future pg. 14 José Reyes Workshop pg. 18

Left: Baby basket, ca. 1791. Rachel Swain (1771–1863). Ash, 8 x 23 x 21 in. Gift of Elizabeth Starbuck, 1894 (1895.1.1) Right: Rachel Swain and two of her grandchildren, ca. 1860. Gift of Elizabeth Starbuck, 1900 (P857).

A Short History of Nantucket Baskets pg. 20 Basket Weaver and Companion Artist Biographies pg. 24

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

Museum History The Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum came about shortly after an exhibit sponsored by the Nantucket Historical Association, curated by David H. Wood, and funded in large part by Nantucket basket makers. Basket Makers Island-wide heralded the need for a permanent museum that would annually change exhibits and provide serious study to the history of baskets and would provide education to adults and children in all aspects of this craft.

The Museum also housed a large portion of the workshop of well-known basket maker José Formoso Reyes (1902—1980) and features a display on “how Nantucket Lightship Baskets are made.”

With the goal to educate the public for future generations with exhibits, lectures, and demonstrations. Other accomplishments include:

The initial organization included a community mix of expertise in very diverse professions including basket makers, collectors, fundraisers and many, many volunteers. The concept was widely accepted and donations were very generous.

• a year round youth weaving program that offers beginner and advanced classes;

The property at 49 Union Street, built in 1821 and the former home of Albert and Rosalina Johnson, was purchased with generous donations. Structural renovations were made with strict sensitivity to the historic nature of the district. Flooring was salvaged from an old Nantucket building, which had recently suffered a fire and was under reconstruction, thus saving another piece of Nantucket history! The museum was dedicated to preserving Nantucket’s rich history of basket making as an art form and to provide a permanent home for an exhibit of Nantucket Lightship Baskets, both historic and contemporary.

• Hosting over 2,000 visitors annually;

• producing a documentary film about the history of lightship baskets; • compiling a collection of biographies of significant basket makers; • building a permanent collection of lightship baskets that represent important time periods and significant makers. Annually changing exhibits have included topics such as: teachers/student relationships; special purpose baskets; lightship basket nests and miniatures. Learn more about NLBM past exhibitions on page 17. The Museum’s permanent collection includes examples from Reyes, Boyer, Kittila, Gibbs, Folger, James and many others, including a nest of baskets made in the International Space Station.

“Dedicated to preserving Nantucket’s rich history of basket making as an art form.” 4 Historic Nantucket | Nantucket Historical Association

ANNIVERSARY

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

A Collection Comparison The NHA collection contains about 244 baskets (counting basket nests as one item). The collection also contains basket molds, makers’ trade signs, purse-lid carvings, and other associated items. The baskets include nineteenth- and twentieth-century Nantucket-style baskets, Friendship basket purses, non-Nantucket-style work baskets used on island, work baskets from the Azores, and Indigenous baskets from both North and South America. The collection of the NLBM contains about 175 baskets, plus the workshop of basket maker José Reyes and many associated items such as molds, documents, jewelry, and photographs. The baskets in this collection are mostly Nantucket-style work baskets and purses, plus a few Native American, Japanese, and African examples.

244 NHA Baskets

NHA Makers

The NHA’s basket collection is distinctly a history collection, rooted in the past and demonstrating historical development. It is dominated by nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century baskets, and contains relatively few baskets made since 1980. The NLBM collection contains a handful of outstanding and rare early-nineteenth-century baskets, but its holdings are strongest in the work of contemporary artists; around half of the collection’s baskets have been made since 1980. The NLBM collection is a significant contemporary craft collection, focused on issues of style and craftsmanship.

175

The NHA collection includes baskets representing the work of 43 identified makers and of about half a dozen carvers. The NLBM collection contains the work of 40 identified makers and five carvers. Only eleven makers are represented in both collections, so the collections compliment each other with relatively little overlap in terms of identified work.

NLBM Makers

The NHA has long been equipped to show the development of Nantucket baskets from nineteenth-century practical work containers, to early-twentieth-century tourist keepsakes, to late-twentieth-century home and fashion accessories. The NLBM collection brings a few key examples to fill in the nineteenth-century story and highlights José Reyes through his workshop. But what it really adds is the ability to show in detail how island basket making has been transformed in recent decades into a niche high-end craft that thrives on the patronage of those seeking custom fashion pieces and fine home decorations of the highest quality. The NLBM collection directly reflects, through the example of one living craft tradition, the transformation of Nantucket from a quaint seaport to an exclusive enclave.

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NLBM Baskets

ANNIVERSARY

NHA

Nantucket Basket with Handle Gift of David Wood, 2007.30.23

The inscription on the wood base of this basket reads, “R. Folger, Maker, Nantucket, Mass.” identifying this piece as the work of Rowland Folger (1803–1883), one of the earliest identified makers of distinctive Nantucket baskets. Never associated with any of the lightships stations around the island, he was a professional basket maker, in business as early as 1823. He was one of the children of Walter Folger Jr., the island polymath, and Anna Folger.

NLBM

Round Basket with Handle, 1890 Belonging to F. Spofford, A2004.009.003

Seven inch round basket with a carved bail handle. The ears are made from oak. The basket is traditional cane weave. The rim is nailed and double lashed. F. Spofford stamped in the base is most likely the basket owner.

NHA

Nest of Lightship Baskets, ca. 1870 NHA purchase, 1900.46.1a-g

Finely woven rattan work baskets were made extensively on Nantucket in the nineteenth century. Originating before the Civil War, they became the island’s definitive folk-art product afterward. Some were made by men stationed aboard the lightships that marked the shoals around the island, lending the form its most common name, the “lightship basket.” Makers sometimes displayed their artistry and skill by fashioning elaborate sets of baskets, which were shown at the annual Agricultural Fair and often sold to tourists. Former whaling captain James Wyer (1816–1899), one of the island’s premier artists of the form, made this nest around 1870.

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

NLBM

Nest of Five Baskets, ca. 1978 By Azuba Scott Howland, A2019.002.003a-e

A nest of five baskets the largest approximately 8” diameter and the smallest 4”. The matching plain bases are of pine. The wooden ears and handles are cherry and have ivory domes as attachments on each handle. The baskets are traditional straight weave using cane and they are each double lashed. All the baskets are in good condition.

NHA

Friendship Basket Purse, 1950 Gift of Mary E. Reyes, 1983.9.1

José Formoso Reyes (1902–80) revolutionized the form and meaning of Nantucket baskets during the three-and-a-half decades he lived on Nantucket. A native of the Philippines, he and his wife, Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Ham (1908–1988), moved to Nantucket after World War II with their children. Unable to find work as a teacher, he turned to basket weaving, supplementing his existing knowledge and skill with lessons in local basket techniques from Mitchell Ray. Reyes made this “Friendship basket” purse as a birthday gift for his wife. The sperm-whale carving on the lid is by his friend, the carver and model maker Charlie Sayle Sr. (1908–1994), who is credited with first suggesting that Reyes add carvings to the lids of his baskets.

NLBM

Takezaiku Basket, 2017 By Takayuki Shimizu, A2017.005.001

Inspired by the Nantucket Basket, the bottom is woven in a 16 criss cross pattern then the weavers are turned up to form the upright staves. The staves and weavers appear to be highly refined bamboo. The rims and square handle are made of heavier weight of the same material. The handle knobs are ebony. The rims are single lashed onto the basket.

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ANNIVERSARY

NHA

Baby Basket, 1851 Gift of Helen Marshall Hall Brown in memory of Florence Farrier Hall, 1999.37.4

Local women on the island of Faial in the Azores wove this basket for Malvina Marshall after the birth of her daughter Helen in 1851. Malvina was at the time accompanying her husband, Captain Joseph Marshall, on a whaling voyage aboard the brig Sea Queen of Westport, Mass. The oversized basket, measuring 18 x 33 x 23 inches, was designed to keep the child safe aboard ship, even as she grew.

NLBM

Mitchell Ray Lidded Basket with Handle, 1942 A2002.008.001

Round covered basket, by Clinton Mitchell “Mitchy” Ray. The label has a pencil mark “December 25th 1942”. It appears that the top was added to an open round at some point. The basket has oak staves and a nicely turned knob on the cover. This style basket was known as a “pie basket” intended to carry food to family gatherings.

NHA

Lightship Basket, 1870 NHA purchase, 2014.23.1

The wood base of this round, handled work basket is both signed in ink “David Parker/Mass. 1870” and branded “DAVID PARKER.” David Parker (1841–1927) ran a grocery store on Nantucket. This basket may have been used in his business or it may have been for personal use at his home. The iron brand used to burn his name into the bottom of the basket is also in the NHA collection (2006.37.1).

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

NLBM

John H. Kittila Jr. Purse, 1952 A2002.004.001

Covered round ladies handbag basket, made by John Kittila Jr. Two small carved ivory seals and the map of Nantucket decorate the cover. Carver unknown. The knobs and closure peg are also made of ivory. John Jr. was one of the last known basketmakers stationed on the Nantucket Lightship to make baskets while aboard before it was decommissioned.

NHA

“One-Egg” Basket Bequest of Oswald A. Tupancy, 2016.1022.19

This small round basket, just 3-3/4-inches across, is attributed to Frederick Chadwick (1857–1936), an island carpenter who learned basket making in later life from Mitchy Ray. It forms part of an extensive collection of baskets that once belonged to Jacqueline Harris and her daughter Sallie Gail Harris and bequeathed to the NHA by Sallie’s second husband, Oswald Tupancy.

NLBM

Basket Purse with Lapis Lazuli Top, 2019 By Karen Palmer and Diana Kim England, A2019.06.01

An innovative six inch oval cocktail purse with solid maple rims and a curved Martin Brown style handle with an ivory overlay. The top plate, knobs, and catch are made from semi-precious Lapis Lazuli. The closure button was made by goldsmith Diana Kim England. This basket was made especially for the 2019 Baskets and Bubbly Auction to benefit the NLBM. It was purchased at the auction and then donated back to the NLBM permanent collection.

NHA

Oval Lightship Basket, ca. 1920 Gift of Cara A. Cooper, 1989.2.1

Clinton Mitchell “Mitchy” Ray (1870–1956) learned basket weaving from his father, Charles F. Ray, and grandfather, Charles B. Ray. For decades, Ray instructed other islanders in the craft, training, among others, José Reyes and Frederick Chadwick.

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ANNIVERSARY

NLBM

Work Basket, ca. 1870 By Captain Thomas James, A2013.003.001

Nineteenth-century rare utilitarian basket with double heart handles. The basket is a unique form that has two bends in the staves. Attributed to Captain Thomas James of the South Shore Lightship. This basket was believed to have been used to store wool roving until it was spun into yarn for knitting.

NHA

Lightship Basket Purse, 1991 Gift of Helen Winslow Chase, 1998.26.1

This basket purse was made by Karl and Susan Ottison of Nantucket. The ivory plaque on its lid, engraved by Susan’s sister Nancy Chase and depicting a whaling scene, is copied from a Liverpoolware pitcher brought to the island in the 1790s by Susan and Nancy’s ancestor Captain James Chase. The owner of the purse, the historian and librarian Helen Winslow Chase, was Susan and Nancy’s sister in law.

NLBM

Tall, Thin Basket, 1984 By Paul Willer, A2015.002.001

Seven inch tall round bud vase with a tall handle. It has a glass bottle inside to hold flowers. Paul was a self-taught detailed basketmaker. He specialized in weaving over glass dishes and bottles. His baskets are made with flat oak staves, and finished with yellow shellac. His rims are lashed but not nailed.

“The collections compliment each other with relatively little overlap in terms of identified work.”

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

Nantucket Lightship Basket

Educational Programs

To create a Nantucket lightship basket with your own hands is a thrill beyond belief. This is true for all ages, young and old. Basket weaving workshops for all ages will be offered at the NHA’s historic property, Greater Light, located at 8 Howard Street off Upper Main Street. Learning this historic Island craft, these classes will be offered as part of the affiliation between the NLBM and the NHA. In our world permeated by computers, a chance to use your hands and a creative mind generates enthusiasm and joy that words cannot express. Start from scratch and learn the skills to create your own unique Nantucket lightship basket. Each workshop keeps alive a uniquely Nantucket tradition, in the wonderful historic atmosphere of Greater Light. The joy of making a Nantucket lightship basket is an experience to enjoy for a lifetime. What a gift!

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Join us for basket-themed decorate arts workshops this summer! Youth Weaving with Dale Rutherford & Judy Prohaska July: 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, & 28 Nantucket Basket Bracelets with Martha Polachi July 16 and August 23 Nantucket Basket Wine Coaster with Martha Polachi & Ashley Emery August 3-5 Youth Bangle Bracelets with Dale Rutherford & Judy Prohaska August 4 & 11 Miniature Nantucket Baskets with Nap Plank August: 16, 17, and 18 Learn more about these workshops and sign up today at NHA.org

Educational workshops held at the NLBM over the years. 20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

2021 N A N T U CKE T LI G H T SHIP BA SKE T MUSEUM E XHIB IT ION

Weaving Nantucket’s Past Into Its Future Showcasing over 100 Nantucket lightship baskets from the NLBM collection, curated by basket weaver, Kathleen Myers. Opening Memorial Day weekend at the NHA’s Hadwen House, located at 96 Main Street.

Essence of Nantucket. Twelve piece nesting set of baskets made by Michael and Marcia Kane. Scrimshaw by Dorothy Grant Viera O’Hara. 1998-2000.

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The NHA’s Hadwen House, photographed by Jeff Allen.

Each year the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum (NLBM) has curated a new exhibit examining some aspect of the lightship basket, recognized as an iconic symbol of the Island worldwide. In celebration of the newly formed affiliation between the NLBM and the NHA, the 2021 exhibit is a retrospect of highlights from the past twenty years, drawing on highlights from the NLBM’s years of illuminating exhibits, the current exhibit traces an arc of artistry and innovation that began onboard nineteenth-century whaling ships and continues to flourish into the twenty-first-century. You might question how many ways there are to spin a tale about a basket. Throughout the years many themes and trends have emerged to reflect our changing attitude about the lightship basket, from a work basket to an intricately designed purse to an exquisite piece of jewelry. There are very large baskets and miniature

baskets. Purses adorned with intricate carvings and scrimshaw, and purses to simply throw over your shoulder and head out for the day. Interest has shifted from a fashion accessory to a home design element with endless possibilities. In examining the history of lightship baskets, one would be remiss not to look at the evolution of the makers. In the early days, scraps of wood from the workshop sufficed for parts. Soon, makers began adding signature detail to identify their baskets. A specific shape to the handle, the way staves were tapered or the finish material applied at the end. Basket makers began signing their names to their work. In the second half of the twentieth-century another shift took place. Component parts became available for purchase and an entirely new group of basket makers emerged. These basket

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

Left: Spring. Featuring a carved dogwood flowers and leaves.Basket maker Fred Ely. Right: From the Heart. Heart made from pink ivory wood. Basket maker Kathleen Myers.

makers form a broad range of artists making baskets for personal use, private sale, and consignment in downtown shops. This year, we hope to capture the breath and depth of diversity and innovation over the years. Highlights from the exhibit include a nest of baskets commissioned from Michael Kane by a private collector, The Essence of Nantucket, depicting significant events in Nantucket history scrimshawed on the basket by the late Dorothy Veria O’Hare. Truly a work of epic proportion. While the Nantucket basket is unique to Nantucket, basket makers far and wide have been captivated by the beauty of these baskets. Many have embraced this tradition of basket making and have demonstrated skill and innovation in creating these baskets. The exhibit includes the work of master craftsman from Michigan, the late Fred Ely. Fred used his talents as a fine woodworker and his love of experimentation to create exquisite pieces using exotic woods and unusual materials such as baleen. One of Fred’s more unique innovations was the use of polystyrene for ‘one use throw away’ basket molds. His innovation allowed exploration of artistic designs and shapes. Everything from tall vase

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like shapes to baskets that resemble flying saucers. In Japan, the art form has been embraced by a group of basket makers who have applied the aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty to their basket creations. Collectors also play an important role in preserving the many artifacts that otherwise would be scattered hither and yon. Treasured by generations and passed down through wills and estate settlements to ensure their place with the family. Some collectors acquire pieces from a particular period, while others want representation of a cross section of artists throughout history. Some collectors focus on a particular basket style. For this year’s exhibit, the NLBM has chosen to showcase one collector’s penchant for the mini basket. Thanks to over twenty years of meticulous research, inspiring exhibits, and dedicated instruction, the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum advanced the appreciation and love of Nantucket basketry in all its forms. To learn more, visit the 2021 exhibition, Weaving Nantucket’s Past into Its Future, which pays tribute to these unflagging efforts and promises their continuation through this newest Nantucket partnership.

“Thanks to over twenty years of inspiring exhibits the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum advanced the appreciation and love of Nantucket basketry in all its forms.” Past Exhibitions by NLBM 2020 Weaving in Isolation: Creating Art in Times Apart 2019 Innovations in Nantucket Basketry: José Reyes and Beyond 2018 Heirlooms & Legacies Examines the Lineage of Baskets 2017 Breaking the Mold: Women in the Nantucket Folk Art 2016 Faraway Islands: Lightship Basket Making on Nantucket & Japan

2011 Members’ Collection 2010 From Folk Art to Fine Art 2009 10th Anniversary 2008 Celebrations! An Exhibit of Traditional Arts 2007 Through the Collector’s Eye 2006 Lightship Basket Nests and More 2005 A Parade of Purses

2015 Gen Next

2004 Nantucket Occasions

2014 21st Century Basketry

2003 Teachers and Students

2013 Coming Home

2002 Reyes’ 100th Birthday

2012 Gifts from the Heart

2001 Old and New

Learn more about past NLBM exhibitions at NantucketLightshipBasketMuseum.org

2021 Exhibit Opening: Saturday, May 29, 2021 at Hadwen house, 96 Main Street 20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

José Reyes Workshop José Reyes was an iconic Nantucket lightship basket weaver in the 1950’s. Emigrating from the Philippines, José was able to take the traditional Philippine style of basket making and adapt to that of the Nantucket lightship basket style. It was José who is credited today with creating the traditional “Friendship Purse”, the design of adding a woven lid to the classic open lightship basket that is still a representation of the island today.

The workshop of José Reyes was donated to the NLBM in 2001 by the Reyes family. It was moved from his home located on the outskirts of town to the museum at 49 Union street, and now resides in the Decorative Arts Gallery at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Displayed at the front of the shop are carvings of whales, seagulls, nameplates, and other items available for custom order to have adorn your friendship purse. Never without his hat, traditional Philippine hats are hung on the woven palm walls with care, surrounded by basket rims, cane, and other basket making supplies. Taking a closer look inside the shop, you can see José’s work bench, complete with tools and other necessities used to create his sought-after baskets. Although the sign at the front of the shop reads “Closed Gone Birding”, we invite you to come visit José Reyes’s workshop and take a peek inside the inner workings of a Nantucket lightship basket weaver’s world. Learn more about José Reyes on page 31.

Right top: Friendship basket purchase, José Reyes, 1950. Gift of Mary E. Reyes to the NHA collection, 1983.9.1. Right bottom: Church-Offering Basket. José Reyes, 1940-50. Gift of Judy Whitbeck, Mount Washington, MA, in memory of Marion Worthington Wells, NHA Collection, 2012.21.1. Opposite page: The José Reyes Workshop now on display in the Whaling Museum Decorative Arts Gallery.

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ANNIVERSARY

“Take a peek inside the inner workings of a Nantucket lightship basket weaver’s world.”

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

“How this style of rattan basket developed is obscure. There are roots, certainly, in the baskets of Nantucket’s Indigenous people.”

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A Short History of Nantucket Baskets

ANNIVERSARY

There are four distinctive elements that define a Nantucket lightship basket. The basket is woven on a mold; the staves are made of rattan; the weavers are of cane; and the basket has a solid wood base. Baskets with these characteristics developed on Nantucket during the course of the nineteenth century. When well made, they were robust and practical as storage and carrying baskets and were in wide use in the island’s stores, workshops, and homes. As the island transitioned from a whaling economy to a tourist economy in the 1860s and after, the island’s work baskets became popular keepsakes of an island visit. How this style of rattan basket developed is obscure. There are roots, certainly, in the baskets of Nantucket’s Indigenous people. Native Wampanoags wove baskets using ash wood splints and weavers, through a process of stripping and soaking the layers of wood. The bottoms of their baskets were square and woven. Similar to lightship baskets, some Native baskets featured a carved flange on the handle to keep it in place. Farm baskets of New Hampshire, with their wooden bases, may also have provided inspiration for the development of the Nantucket lightship basket.

men might have made baskets in the course of a whaling voyage. According to an oral tradition that may need to be taken with a grain of salt, James was the first man to return from a whaling voyage with baskets he had made in his spare time, baskets that were deep bottomed, with vertical staves and flat wood bases and folding wood handles. Whether he made baskets while whaling or not, James is one of the men responsible encouraging the weaving of baskets aboard lightships stationed near Nantucket in the second half of the nineteenth century.

It is sometimes said that Nantucket baskets may have developed aboard the island’s whaling ships, where the intermittent work of whale hunting allowed the arts of scrimshanding, decorative knot tying, and chanty singing to flourish. There is no evidence of widespread rattan basket making on Nantucket whaleships, however, and no examples of Nantucket-style baskets made aboard a whaleship are known, although multitudes of scrimshaw baskets survive. Some of the earliest makers associated with the distinctive Nantucket rattan basket were, indeed, former whalers, such as James Wyer, Charles B. Ray, Thomas S. James, and James F. Chase. But only in the case of Thomas James is there any indication that any of these

View of No. 1 Nantucket New Shoal Lightship on station, 1890s. NHA collection, P8779.

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

A Short History of Nantucket Baskets

The first American lightships—essentially floating lighthouses—were established by the U.S. government beginning in the 1820s. Lightships began to mark the dangerous shoal waters around Nantucket starting in 1849. Many of the mariners hired to work aboard these floating beacons were Nantucketers; some had even been whalers. Thomas S. James was mate and later captain of the South Shoal Lightship near Nantucket beginning in the late 1860s. As Gustav Kobbé aptly put it in the Century Magazine in 1891, duty aboard the South Shoal Lightship was “at its best a life of desolation, with only a few gulls or Mother Carey’s chickens for visitors.” James and perhaps others who made rattan baskets ashore introduced basket weaving aboard the lightship, and trained other men in the craft. In this way, the

ket-maker, and about five hundred are sold by the stores in Nantucket each summer for the crew.” The list of notable basket weavers who worked aboard the lightships is long, including Davis Hall, Andrew Sandsbury, William D. Appleton, George W. Ray, Charles F. Ray, S. B. Raymond, and Isaac Hamblin. Many basket collectors regard the baskets woven by these men and their crewmates to be among the finest made. Lightships remained on duty into the mid-twentieth century, but no Nantucketer worked on them after 1905. With shipboard basket weaving finally forbidden by the government sometime before 1916, in an effort to end moonlighting, the making of lightship baskets moved firmly ashore, back where it had started. While no longer made afloat, the island’s basket continued to be called Nantucket lightship baskets. The craft passed from one weaver to another, and molds, tools, and trade secrets passed hand to hand as well. Mitchy Ray taught Fredrick Chadwick and later William Sevrens. A. D. Williams learned from William D. Appleton and later taught Ferdinand Sylvaro. Typically, the baskets of this time were woven over oak, ash, or hickory staves, with pine or mahogany bases. Most of the basket makers at this time signed or labeled their baskets.

Cross Rip Lightship on station, circa 1930s. NHA collection, P16269.

distinctive baskets already made on Nantucket came to be associated with lightships, particularly the South Shoal Lightship, and the baskets started to be called Nantucket lightship baskets. As Harry Platt wrote in 1894, “For a quarter of a century the crew of the South Shoal light-ship have employed their leisure moments in making a peculiar kind of basket, known to those who visit Nantucket as light-ship baskets. . . . At first but one or two of the crew worked at them, and their products were very rough when compared with the neat baskets made to-day. Now every man aboard is an expert bas-

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José Reyes teaches a class with young basket makers.

ANNIVERSARY

The Round Nantucket

José Formoso Reyes revolutionized the form and meaning of Nantucket baskets during the three-and-a-half decades he lived on Nantucket. He moved to Nantucket after World War II. Unable to find work as a teacher, he turned to basket weaving, supplementing his existing knowledge and skill with lessons from Mitchy Ray. Reyes experimented with shapes, lids, and the addition of ornamental carvings, soon developing the “Friendship basket” purse. His friend Charlie Sayle is credited with first suggesting that Reyes add carvings to the lids of his baskets. The craft of Nantucket basket making has grown in the last forty years. Weavers have made creative changes to materials, adornments, techniques. Some have begun formal teaching, allowing many hobbyists, who might not be adept at woodworking, to create lightship baskets. An expansion of amateur makers has created a market for component pieces.

Illustration by Margaret Davidson from Basketry: the Nantucket Tradition by John McGuire.

Major contemporary and commercial weavers who make or have made their primary living from weaving baskets (and, for some, teaching) in recent decades include Dick and Donna Cifranic, Terry Sylvia, Bill and Judy Sayle, Trish and Dick Anderson, Paul Willer, Michael Kane, Nap Plank, Alan Reed, Gerald L. Brown, Karol Lindquist, and Susan and Karl Ottison. Major teachers of this time include Terry Sylvia, Donna and Dick Cifranic, Karol Lindquist, Tim Parsons, and Peter Finch. Part of the mission of the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum is “to mentor a new generation of lightship basket makers.” To fulfill that mission, the museum works diligently on continuing a year round youth weaving program. This program is accessible, at little or no cost to students, in the hope of cultivating new interest and future Nantucket basket weavers.

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Biographies The Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum collected and documented the histories of numerous, notable lightship basket makers. Explore this collection and learn more about the individuals who raised this craft to an art form unique to Nantucket Island.

CAPTAIN CHARLES B. RAY

(1798–1884)

Born on Nantucket, Charles B. Ray began his career at sea as a young boy and eventually became a well-respected whaling captain, commanding five whaling voyages to the Pacific between 1831 and 1851. He retired from the sea to a farm on Nantucket and began making baskets sometime in the 1850s or 1860s. He was prolific, making hundreds of baskets a year, yet his baskets were known for their neatness and beauty. He made many covered examples, and claimed to have made 306 baskets in his 80th year alone. Ray and his wife, Clarissa Folger, had four children. When his grandson, Clinton “Mitchy” Ray, was seven years old and sick with diphtheria, Charles passed on his knowledge of basket making to the young boy in a shed on Starbuck Lane, where Mitchy later continued his family’s basket making tradition until he, himself, died in 1956 at age 85. Charles B. Ray’s basket making career was the beginning of a long history of mentoring basket makers from whom a number of today’s contemporary makers descend.

ROWLAND FOLGER (1803–1883) Rowland Folger stands as one of the earliest identified makers of rattan baskets in the style now known as the Nantucket lightship basket. A son of island polymath Walter Folger Jr. (1765–1849) and Anna Ray (1764–1844), he may have made a whaling voyage in his youth, but that is unclear. He published a notice in the Nantucket Inquirer in December 1823 advertising “All kinds of ivory work; umbrellas, and bellows made and repaired; combs mended by the subscriber; at the shop near the dwelling house of Walter Folger Jr.” and is identified variously through his life by the U.S. Census as a “jail keeper,” “printer and paper hanger,” and “basket maker.” Folger was never connected to any of the island’s lightships, but produced his baskets ashore for sale in his own store. In a assessment by historian Stuart Frank published in this magazine in 2016, “Rowland Folger’s baskets were woven by an enterprising businessman who was deeply rooted and broadly connected to the mainstream of Nantucket social, commercial, and intellectual circles; unlike the isolated crews sequestered on lightships, Folger had daily contact and interactions with all kinds of folks on the island, and daily experienced the ebb and flow of island affairs. This signifies that Nantucket baskets are even more truly representative of the unique circumstances and cultural effervescence of Nantucket down through almost two centuries.”

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ANNIVERSARY

CAPTAIN THOMAS S. JAMES (1811–1885) Thomas S. James is credited with popularizing basket making aboard the South Shoal Lightship, where he served as mate and, later, from 1872 to 1881, as captain. James was the son of Thomas James and Elizabeth Winslow. He and his wife Eliza Ann Bump had four children, but Eliza passed away two years after giving birth to her fourth child in 1850. He then married Eliza R. Cartwright but they had no more children. When he died in 1885, The Inquirer and Mirror reported, “Thomas S. James who died Thursday at the age of seventy four years was a citizen of exemplary habits, and was highly respected in the community. His early life was passed in the whaling service, later he commanded various packets plying this port and larger seaport cities as far south as Baltimore. He subsequently was appointed first officer of the South Shoal lightship and upon the retirement of Captain George C. Gardner in 1872 was promoted to position of Captain, which he held for a period of almost ten years. When failing health compelled him to relinquish the position and retire from active life.” According to a story collected by basket historian David Wood, weaver Mitchy Ray claimed that “Thomas S. James was the first man to return from a whaling voyage with baskets he had made in his spare time. They were deep bottomed, with vertical staves and flat wooden bottoms made from white oak; they had wooden handles that folded down when the baskets were not in use. Mitchy also said: as time went on, James found that he could make the baskets better if he used a wooden mold or form to weave over.” Whether this story is true or not, James influenced many weavers during his time aboard the South Shoal Lightship, including Andrew J. Sandsbury, Isaac Hamblin, Davis Hall, and others.

CAPTAIN JAMES WYER (1816–1899) James Wyer spent his early life at sea, working his way up the ranks aboard whalers in the Pacific. On his fourth voyage he was given command of the Spartan (1851–53). He and his men extracted 630 barrels of sperm oil but then Wyer was able to purchase 1,570 barrels of whale oil at the Navigator Islands from the ship York, filling his hold and giving him a profitable reason to return home. Wyer married Harriet N. Thompson in 1851 but she died after a long illness in 1860. Following her death, Wyer left Nantucket for California. He worked there as a carpenter for four years before returning to Nantucket, where he married Lois N. (Pease) Starbuck, widow of Charles E. Starbuck, in 1866. He also became one of the original purchasers of the Pacific Club, where retired island captains gathered. There is no record of how Wyer became interested in rattan baskets. He made baskets between the 1870s and 1890s, exhibiting his work at the annual island agricultural fair, even winning first prize in 1879.

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Biographies DAVIS HALL (1828–1906) Davis Hall was born in Hanson, Massachusetts, to Davis Hall Sr. and Elizabeth Ann “Betsy” Gould. He never knew his father, a mariner who died around the time Davis Jr. was born. His mother Betsy returned to Barnstable County, eventually marrying another mariner, Joseph D. Patterson, in 1840. Sometime in the 1840s the family moved to Nantucket. At age 21, Hall was one of the seven men who sailed the 44-ton fishing schooner Mary and Emma to California, making a passage of 150 days and becoming the smallest vessel to sail around Cape Horn to during the Gold Rush. Returning to Nantucket, Hall married Lydia Gifford in 1853. He worked for the Life-saving Service, and his name is mentioned in the reward lists for several rescues between 1852 and 1860. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 and was wounded in battle. He used the money he received from his war service and disability to purchase the house on 28 North Water Street for his growing family. In 1877, he was appointed to the crew of the South Shoal Lightship, where he learned basket making. His career is outlined in the U.S. Census, where he is listed as “mariner” (1850), “fisherman” (1860), “seaman” (1870), “on Light-Ship” (1880), and finally as “basket maker” (1900). Today, Davis Hall baskets are prized by collectors, among whom he is known for developing an oval form of lightship basket.

ANDREW JACKSON SANDSBURY (1830–1902) Andrew J. Sandsbury’s first whaling voyage to the Pacific was as a boatsteerer aboard the brig Sea Queen of Westport (1851–55), followed by two voyages on the Nautilus of New Bedford, as second mate (1855–59) and then first mate (1859–64). He served as mate of the South Shoal Lightship between 1867 and 1869 before making one final whaling voyage in the bark Spartan of New Bedford (1869–72). He rejoined the South Shoal Lightship in 1872, serving until 1892. He was mate for Captain Thomas S. James until 1881, when he himself was appointed captain of the lightship. His brother William Penn Sandsbury also served on this lightship for many years. In 1892, after a terrible, storm-tossed season on the lightship, Andrew was appointed keeper of Brant Point Lighthouse, where he served until declining health compelled his resignation in 1898. When seas were calm aboard the lightship, Sandsbury wove rattan baskets, probably learning the craft aboard from Thomas James and others. His work remains today highly prized.

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WILLIAM D. APPLETON (1851–1918) William (Billy) D. Appleton was one of nine children of Oliver Appleton of Boston and Susan Silvia of Nantucket. He made at least one whaling voyage, as a seaman in the bark Martha Wrightington of Nantucket from 1866 to 1871. He later joined the crew of the South Shoal Lightship, serving until appointed assistant keeper of Great Point Lighthouse in 1889. He is believed to have learned basket weaving from his crewmates aboard the lightship. His baskets have certain distinguishing features. The inner part of his handles, where they meet the rim, are carved into a stylized point. On the reverse of the same spot, he carved a slight chamfered edge. Census records from 1880 to 1910 list Appleton as a mariner, then a day laborer, and finally as a farmer, his primary employment after leaving government service. He continued to make baskets, as this January 1907 notice from The Inquirer and Mirror attests: “Just before Christmas, Miss P. E. Clisby [who ran a well-known store on Petticoat Row] received an order from Senator Henry Cabot Lodge requesting her to secure a nest of famous Nantucket lightship baskets for him to present to Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt as a Christmas gift. Miss Clisby promptly arranged with William D. Appleton to fill the order, and that gentleman, who is an expert basket maker, constructed a ‘nest’ which would please the eye of the most critical person . . . . Mr. Appleton naturally takes considerable pride in his work, and was gratified to learn from Senator Lodge that Mrs. Roosevelt was greatly pleased with the gift.”

FREDERICK S. CHADWICK (1857–1936) Frederick S. Chadwick was born on Nantucket to Reuben Chadwick and Elizabeth Randall. He lived much of his life in a house at 4 Pine Street that he and his two sisters purchased in 1874 when they were teenagers. Chadwick married Mary Louisa Folger in May 1882. Chadwick was a carpenter by trade, as well as a fisherman, but filled many other odd jobs during his life. He was keeper of the almshouse from 1900 to 1911, became attendant at the New York Yacht Club station on Steamboat Wharf starting in 1905, was first elected a town fireward in 1907, and served as an assistant fire chief from 1914 to 1919, working alongside Maurice W. Boyer, father of noted basket maker Sherwin Boyer. He and his wife, Mary, were keeper and matron of Our Island Home from 1920 to 1929, and he became dog pound keeper in 1921. Chadwick began weaving baskets late in life. He learned the craft from Clinton Mitchell “Mitchy” Ray. Many of Ray’s students were from a younger generation, but Chadwick was 20 years older than Ray. In 1933, Chadwick’s work was chosen, along with that of Ferdinand Sylvaro, for a display of Nantucket handicrafts shown in Washington, D.C. Sculptor and Nantucket summer resident Henry K. Bush-Brown commented at the time, “Basket-making of this sort is a real Nantucket product, but there are barely half a dozen men on the island to-day who can do this work—and when they go the ability to fashion such baskets may go with them.”

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Biographies FERDINAND SYLVARO (1868–1952) A house painter by trade, Ferdinand Sylvaro was a Nantucket native of Portuguese decent. He is thought to have learned basket making from his neighbor, A. D. Williams (who himself learned from William D. Appleton), and he even owned molds that had belonged to Davis Hall, famous for making baskets aboard the South Shoal Lightship. Sylvaro worked from a shop attached to his home at 97 Orange Street. He typically used oak or hickory for his staves and mahogany for his bases. One of his trademarks was inscribing three narrow, equally spaced circles inside of the bottom of his baskets.

CLINTON MITCHELL “MITCHY” RAY (1877–1956) Mitchy learned how to make Nantucket lightship baskets as a young boy with his grandfather Charles B. Ray a highly regarded mariner and prolific basket weaver. Unlike his father Charles F. Ray and grandfather, Mitchy never went to sea. Mitchy is remembered as an Island character, with a reputation of being wild in his younger years. He at one point saved a man from drowning at Surfside beach and earned a medal for his deed. Mitchy took up various jobs and after a short time spent on Cape Cod as a meat cutter he decided to come home. Mitchy later took up the profession as a full time basket maker, and opened a small shop in Starbuck Court. Mitchy used the molds given to him by his father Charles F. Ray, and made utility or work baskets in various sizes, starting with the tiny “one-egger” that he sold hundreds of, for around $1.50 each. Early in his basket making career the baskets were well constructed and adorned with a simple paper label. It was later in life that he began adding the tag line “I was made in Nantucket, I’m strong and stout. Don’t lose me or burn me and I’ll never wear out. Made by Mitchy Ray.” As time went on and Mitchy aged, his baskets became very popular and he was selling them so fast that some say the time and effort that went into the construction of those later basket baskets is not of the early quality that he produced. However in all of his baskets, the durability is ever present and full of his family and Nantucket history alike and are treasured by those who collect Nantucket lightship baskets.

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STEPHEN GIBBS (1896–1974) Stephen Gibbs and his wife Loretta operated a basket shop for 20 years where they made and sold lightship baskets. The shop was located at the rear of his brother-in-law’s house on Madaket Road. The couple also ran a small bed and breakfast out of the house he was raised in to supplement their income. This house is located on the corner of Ash Lane and North Water Street. Prior to his basket work Stephen Gibbs was an accomplished woodworker and builder on Nantucket, giving him the knowledge to make all of the components for his baskets. After he suffered a heart attack, he turned to the less physical work of making Nantucket baskets, with general focus on ladies handbags. Although it is said that Stephen Gibbs is mainly a self taught Nantucket basket maker, he was introduced to basketry when as a small boy Stephen’s mother had him bring supper to Mitchy Ray, once in a while. Mitchy Ray was a well known island character, as well as a third generation Nantucket basket maker, whose neighbors were accustomed to looking after the confirmed bachelor. Stephen Gibbs wove baskets for 20 years from 1954 until he passed away in 1974; his baskets are among the finest woven and highest quality of this time period. Mr. Gibbs used oak for his staves and frequently placed a long ivory clasp to hold the peg on his purses. This clasp has become a trademark of a Gibbs baskets. Stephen Gibbs’ nephew, Douglas Porchette, has been quoted as saying, “they were always two years behind in orders.” Some would call a Gibbs basket indestructible. Ask any current weaver who has completed a repair on one of Mr. Gibbs’ baskets!

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Biographies JOSÉ FORMOSO REYES (1902–1980) Do you know the story of how José’s baskets became known as Friendship Baskets? Paul Whitten writes in his book, Nantucket Baskets; “A number of years ago a Nantucket woman carrying her Reyes handbag while in Paris noticed a woman across the street carrying one as well and yelled out “Nantucket!” The lady across the street was understandably startled, and stopped to speak with the woman. That chance encounter resulted in a friendship that endures to this day.” There are many similar stories such as a woman meeting her husband on a transatlantic crossing, because he recognized the basket being of Nantucket and struck up a conversation. José was born in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, Philippines on September 15th, 1902. After schooling in Santa Maria, José came to the U.S. and graduated from high school in Portland, Oregon he then received a BA from Reed College. He also received a scholarship to Harvard University and graduated with an M.Ed. Following his marriage to Mary E. Ham of Massachusetts he returned to the Philippines. In 1935 he joined the staff of the Philippine Military Academy becoming head of the Department of Languages and Social Arts. In December of 1941 José joined the U.S. Army. After the Philippines liberation in 1945, José returned to the U.S. with his family. He was discharged from the Army with a rank of Captain and automatically received his American Citizenship in 1947. That summer, José’s’ mother in law invited the family to rest and recuperate at her Nantucket property. Like many others who have vacationed on the Island, José and his family knew they had found their new home and never left. Unable to find a teaching position, José first worked as a house painter and repaired cane and rush chairs. A picture in Life Magazine of a basket with a cloth top gave him the idea to apply his weaving training learned in the Philippines to a possible money making venture on Nantucket. It was at that time he was befriended by Mitchell Ray, who showed him the craft of weaving a Nantucket lightship basket. With Mitchy’s encouragement and a few of Mitchy’s molds that he had inherited from his father, José’s new career was launched. In the summer of 1948, José developed the “friendship basket” pocketbook. Another local craftsman, Charlie Sayle and his wife suggested adding the ornamentation of his basket tops with an ivory whale or seagull. José became well known for his innovative style and unique designs in basket weaving. From that time until his retirement in 1978, it has been estimated that he made over 5,000 baskets. José died at his home on Nantucket, December 24th, 1980.

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PAUL F. WHITTEN (1909–1988) Paul Whitten was born in 1909 in North Easton, Massachusetts. He had a long career as a teacher and school principal in both Massachusetts and California before a successful and unexpected retirement career as a basket maker. Whitten served in the Navy. Following World War II, he moved to Nantucket in 1945 to take a post as the principal of the Cyrus Peirce School. He fell in love with and married Helene Coffin, a teacher at the school. Helene and Paul were married for over 50 years. Whitten left Nantucket after three years to earn his master’s degree in education. From there, he was principal of a school in North Attleboro, MA for 14 years. Paul and Helene maintained their ties to Nantucket, returning to spend summers on the island until they returned permanently when Paul retired from teaching in 1965. Paul’s many hobbies kept him busy throughout retirement. An avid photographer and videographer, Whitten made films that showcased the beauty of his surroundings. He captured wildflower picking and snowstorms on Nantucket as well as scenes of California. Whitten shared his films and slide lectures with many on the Island. He also wrote children’s books so younger visitors could learn about the Island. Whitten loved Nantucket history and had a special appreciation for the island’s craftspeople. Following a slide lecture about Nantucket’s craftspeople, Paul was approached by noted Nantucket basket maker José Reyes. Reyes offered to show Whitten how lightship baskets were made in appreciation for the scholar’s research. Whitten took to lightship basket making quickly and would make baskets for 22 years. Whitten’s relationship with Reyes led to the publication of a pamphlet, The Friendship Baskets and Their Maker, about Reyes’ life in the Philippines and Nantucket. Whitten gained national attention for his basket making when he was contacted by the Renwick Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution, in 1974. He was asked to submit his work to be part of an exhibition called Craft Multiples, which represented the best of American production crafts—objects made in at least 10 of the same design. Out of 1,000 finalists, Whitten’s work was selected as one of 133 artists whose work was displayed in the Renwick Gallery and on a touring exhibit that visited towns across America. After the exhibit, the Smithsonian Institution purchased Whitten’s basket to be part of their permanent collection. Whitten said he has woven at least 2,000 baskets during his career. Many of his customers became longtime friends. In an interview with The Inquirer and Mirror in 1988, Whitten said, “Money is soon spent and forgotten, but friendships go on.” Upon retiring from basket making, Whitten published a handsome bound book, Nantucket Baskets, in 1988. He was 80 years old and noted that not many his age would begin writing a book. In addition to his work as a basket maker, Whitten’s writings have helped preserve the history of Nantucket lightship baskets.

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Biographies REGGIE REED (1914–2009) Reggie Reed was born on Martha’s Vineyard during the time when Reggie’s father was a lighthouse keeper. He was born in the quarters of the assistant keeper at the West Chop Light. During the first eleven years of Reggie’s life his family moved quite a bit, from lighthouse to lighthouse, wherever his father’s work took them. In 1925, Reggie’s father took a job as lighthouse keeper at Brant Point on Nantucket. Reggie was one of five children, four boys and a sister. He was the youngest and his mom passed away when he was only a year and a half old. His father remarried soon after and he was raised by his step mother. After high school, Reggie went to work for the next ten years building dams in Brimfield, Massachusetts for President Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corp. He said the dams were put in place in the woods for water supply to assist with extinguishing fires. He decided to return to Nantucket and landed a job at the cranberry bogs, remaining there for the next seven years. He became a carpenter for the next thirty years after that. Once retired, he took a basket making class with Bill Sevrens and began making and repairing baskets. In his own words, Reggie did not really fancy himself as a basket maker but more as a “laborer.” He repaired baskets and made parts for other makers. He invented several devices to improve the process of basket making that were quite ingenious and made use of parts and materials found around his shop.

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ALBERT K. OTTISON (1915–2010) It must have been a combination of natural born character and lessons learned from having to make do on an Island separated from “The Real World” during hard times in the 1920s and 1930s that enabled Albert K. Ottison to survive by making everything he needed from brooms to boats. Whichever the case Albert never waivered from the painstaking hard work and the constant search of a challenge in his creations that kept him active until the end of his life. Albert was a carpenter for Mike Lamb at the White Elephant and for several other Islander builders during his life. He spent time building boats from wood salvaged from the landfill and with nails that he made himself. He is known for his dove tail sea chests with intricate hand woven beckets (handles). There was such detail in the beckets that it took a week to complete just one pair. Albert stated at one point during an interview that weaving baskets was a good way to pass the time. As a child he hung around Mitchy Ray’s Shop, and later became a self-taught basket maker. Although not a prolific commercial weaver, his baskets proved to be a fine example of his craftsmanship and a testament to the endurance of his work from the mid-1930s into the twenty-first-century. Albert made every component used in his baskets, (except cane) and preferred to use oak for wood. He also used a five gallon can attached to a gas burner to “cook” the rims for ten minutes in order to bend. Albert sold a few baskets through Bill Coffin’s variety store in the mid-1930s, but times were tough and the baskets did not sell too well. He later opened his own shop where he sold his wooden-carvings on his property. Albert and his wife of 67 years, Helen, raised two sons, Albert (Buster) and Karl on their property on lower Orange Street near the creeks overlooking Monomoy Harbor. The boys were taught the value of re-use and salvage through the life style of their father. Whether they hauled trees that blew down in storms for a later use, built their houses out of ship wrecks, or fashioned an old car to power the saw mill, the life lessons learned from Albert Ottison will endure. Albert Ottison, master craftsman, boat builder, quintessential recycler and local hero to many, will be with us in his work and his art and his good old fashioned ingenuity.

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Biographies WALTER “BROWNIE” BROWN (1916–2009) One of Nantucket’s best known lightship basket makers wasn’t a native islander. Walter “Brownie” Brown was born in 1915 and raised in Saugus, in the north shore region of Massachusetts. He first visited Nantucket around the time of his marriage to Priscilla Eisenhaure in 1940. Brownie and Priscilla had four children: Martin, Gerald, Judith and Christine, eventually settling in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, where Brownie worked as a machinist for General Electric. As his family grew, they began to spend more and more time on Nantucket. Their first summer home was a primitive house on Tuckernuck Island, which had no indoor plumbing or electricity. An avid pilot who owned his own planes, Brownie would fly the family in and out using a grassy field as an airstrip. They eventually settled in a house in Madaket known as “Samoset.” In 1967, basket maker Paul Whitten told Walter about a recent interview he had conducted of famed basket maker José Reyes. As someone who had always loved working with his hands, Brownie listened with interest as Paul described José’s basket making techniques. Using his mechanical skills, it wasn’t long before he was able to replicate the process for making a lightship basket. Starting with a basic knowledge of what was required, Brownie made his own molds and researched the best New England woods to use for bases, handles and staves. Over the winter months, Brownie would cut down white oak trees near his home in Lynnfield. Once he had learned all the necessary carpentry skills to make baskets, he set out to master the art of ivory carving so that he could add his own embellishments to the tops. Upon his retirement from General Electric Riverworks in 1975, Walter opened Cross Rip Crafts, named after the Cross Rip Lightship that he passed every summer on the ferry to Nantucket. From his home in Madaket, he sold many different styles of lightship baskets and ivory carvings. In 1975, Walter made an appearance on the PBS program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, with his Madaket neighbor, Fred Rogers. On the episode, he shows how a lightship basket is made, from cutting down the tree to adding the finishing touches. He also displays the strength of a well-made basket by doing a handstand on a purse. Walter passed away in 2009. His self-taught hobby led to a legacy of innovative basket making and ivory carving that, through several generations, continues to thrive.

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WILLIAM A. SEVRENS (1916–2001) William “Bill” Sevrens was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 12, 1916. He was the son of Chester Stanley Sevrens and Nantucket native Marion Cook Sevrens. William Sevrens had many connections to the history of Nantucket. He was a direct descendent of Tristram Coffin who led investors in 1659 to purchase Nantucket from Thomas Mayhew and settle the Island. Sevrens was also the great grandson of Captain Henry Coleman, of Sconset. Sevrens visited the Island every summer from birth. After his father passed away, his mother brought the family back to Nantucket, where he graduated high school in 1933. At a young age, he visited the shop of well-known local character and fourth generation basket maker Mitchy Ray, where he was introduced to basket making. Although legend suggests that a Nantucket basket is not a real Nantucket basket without a penny in it, it was actually Bill Sevrens who started the tradition. While mentoring young Sevrens, Mitchy Ray suggested that Bill mark his basket in some way in order not to confuse their baskets. Bill glued a penny inside his baskets thinking it was also a nifty way to date them. Bill Sevrens continued his practice of basketry while he worked various jobs as a plumber, insurance salesman and real estate broker. He did not embark on a full time occupation of basket making until the early 1960s. He made his own molds, and developed several other forms that were used as molds. In addition to making baskets, Bill taught students traditional basket making techniques. Instead of making multiple molds of the same size, he made fiberglass castings of his molds that were used by his students. Bill Sevrens prided himself on using exotic woods for bases and green oak that strengthens with the age of a basket. “I was taught by Mitchell Ray, the last of the old-time basket makers,” he once told a reporter, “there’s never been much documentation on how they started; it’s always been handed down. Ray learned from his father and his grandfather.” Sevrens played a significant role in keeping the craft going, having learned from Mitchy Ray, and becoming a teacher in the “old way” of basket making. His work in basket history is notable, respected and cherished.

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

Biographies HARRY HILBERT (1917–2010) Harry Hilbert grew up in Stamford Connecticut, where his father owned an antique shop, and at age 16 Harry found work at a local auction house as an errand boy and helpful hand. In 1936 at age 19, with his brother he opened an antique shop, Hilbert Brothers Antiques on New Canaan’s Main Street. The shop prospered for 44 years, closing in 1980 not long after the death of his brother, Valdemar Hilbert. Harry Hilbert made his first basket in 1970 when he was 52. That summer he visited his friends Mary-Grace and Charles Carpenter of Nantucket. The Carpenters were students and collectors of traditional Nantucket crafts. There were several antique Nantucket baskets in the guest room at the Carpenter’s house where Mr. Hilbert stayed that summer. Mr. Hilbert became enamored with the historical objects and he was determined to make his hosts a basket as a surprise gift. As a fine woodworker, he was up to the challenge of this task. When Mr. Hilbert returned to Connecticut he chopped down a small oak tree on his property for the rim, staves and base, and proceeded to make a copy of the basket at the Carpenter’s home that he had taken measurements of during his summer visit. At the time he stated that the basket was primitive. Although Mr. Hilbert began making baskets for fun and as gifts, he became well-known in the basket making community for his handcrafted individuality of the inlay wood and other designs adorning his basket tops and bases. Mr. Hilbert worked with whale bone, ivory, baleen, silver, and many rare and exotic woods. Each of the one of a kind pieces that he created included a new element that was taken from his extensive skills learned as a fine wood worker. Harry Hilbert’s work was sold on Main Street Nantucket at Wayne Pratt Antiques. His baskets were the only contemporary work that Mr. Pratt sold. As quoted on the memory page of Harry Hilbert’s obituary, “Never one to remain idle, Harry used his retirement to learn a second career, the art of making baskets in the Nantucket lightship tradition. He incorporated his woodworking skills in the intricate inlays and turnings of his baskets, and became famous in the field of American decorative arts. His baskets have been exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum, Wadsworth Athenaeum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Yale. Additionally, RISD and National Museum of American History, the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum and Wilton Historical Society have displayed his works. His work was featured in Fine Woodworking Magazine, and the New York Times has written about him on several occasions. Despite his notoriety and the respect and regard held by him in the community of professional artists, Harry was always willing to share his skills and expertise with anyone interested. He taught basket making and woodworking skills to a large circle of friends in his own cabinet shop.”

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ANNIVERSARY

ARTHUR R. MARTIN (1930–2000) Arthur R. Martin’s impact on basket making in the North Quabbin/Greenfield area of Western Massachusetts was a significant one. “His baskets were all over the area,” one antique buff notes. As a young man, Martin served in the Navy in the wake of World War II. Later, he made a living as a heavy equipment operating engineer, eventually establishing a furniture refinishing business and antique shop. Martin was incarcerated at MCI Norfolk and MCI Warwick for 8 years, and it is there that he developed his skill as a basket maker. Arthur Frederickson, a drafting instructor at Norfolk, encouraged Martin to make baskets. Initially, Martin wanted to make baskets in the Shaker style, as he admired their craftsmanship. He worked to make the necessary molds and gathered materials. However, ash was in short supply at Norfolk, so his direction changed to Nantucket lightship baskets. His skill flourished upon a transfer to Warwick, which was located in a state forest. Martin was able to gather wood from around the grounds to transform into bases and handles. In the 1980s, Massachusetts had a Prison Craft Industries program where inmates could sell handmade items like furniture, dollhouses, baskets, and other crafts. Martin’s work could be found in antique shops in Western Massachusetts and at the Forager House Antiques and Salt Meadows Antiques on Nantucket. Upon his release, Martin continued to sell lightship baskets in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. He worked with Frank S. Hawkins, one of the men Martin had taught to make lightship baskets at Warwick. In a 1991 interview with the Union-News, Martin “said basket making is more than a means to a livelihood, providing a sense of accomplishment as well.” Martin was a prolific basket maker, selling more than 100 baskets at one Nantucket antique shop alone. Martin’s baskets are unique in that they are often oversized. He made many nests of seven baskets. He favored oak construction techniques rather than reed and cane. While Martin was largely self-taught, he later influenced many basket makers. While made far from Nantucket’s shores, his unique baskets have a defining place in the history of lightship baskets.

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

Biographies of Companion Artists These two women became noted companion artists to Nantucket basket makers. Working to carve ivory pieces for the tops of José Reye’s famous friendship baskets and more. Both of their intricate carvings soon became favorites among tourists and lightship basket collectors. Aside from basket toppers, they carved everything from jewelry, figurines, cane tops, boxes, whale boards, and plaques.

ALETHA MACY (1901-1971) By all accounts, Aletha Macy was a talented child. Born on Nantucket in 1901 to Charles H. and Susan Dunham Macy, Aletha was a direct descendant of Thomas Macy, one of the original founders of Nantucket. Early on, her creativity found an outlet in woodworking, often being scolded for her pursuits as a young child. By the age of 11, she was regularly leaving school to watch cabinet maker Lincoln Ceeley work in his shop, The Cooperage. There he made furniture, clock cases, weather vanes, and sailor boys, the iconic Nantucket whirligigs. Mr. Ceeley saw potential in Aletha and took her under his wing, making her his full time apprentice after her junior year of high school. She would work with him for over thirty years, stopping at the time of his death in 1950. Under Ceeley’s instruction, Aletha learned woodcarving, cabinet making, and reverse painting on glass, which was used for clock doors. As a teenager, she displayed her pieces in the Agricultural Society’s annual exhibition, quickly gaining a reputation for her fine workmanship. Many of her tables and desks could be found in prominent Nantucket homes. In 1921, Aletha married John Sanders of Sayville, NY. Although their marriage was brief, some of the pieces she made during this time were signed Aletha Macy Sanders. In the mid-1950s, she was approached by basket maker José Reyes to carve ivory pieces for the tops of his famous friendship baskets. He had more orders than he could fill and was looking for assistance. Although she had never worked in ivory, Macy agreed; it became her preferred medium. Beginning with sperm whales and sea gulls, Macy, spurred by her love of the outdoors, began to carve other animals, birds and fish. Soon after, she opened her own shop, Ivory of the Sea, on Madaket Road. In addition to José Reyes, Macy made the scrimshaw for many of Stephen Gibbs baskets until the early 1960s. Her remarkable workmanship quickly drew the notice of the tourists who flocked to the Island every summer as her scrimshaw and ivory carvings became sought after souvenirs. She is most famous for her whale boards, a collection of 6 or 8 different varieties of whales, carved and mounted to a wood board. They even appear in the collections of Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT and the Ratsey and Lapthorn Museum. Yankee Magazine and the Boston Herald both ran articles about Macy toward the end of her career. The articles brought renewed interest in her work and her shop was busier than ever. In a tribute written after her death in 1971, her friend, Edouard A. Stackpole wrote, “Her talent was a blend of her character – natural and unadorned – and of her skill – so carefully obtained and nurtured.”

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ANNIVERSARY

NANCY CHASE (1931-2016) Born in 1931, scrimshander Nancy Chase, was a lifelong Nantucketer and descendent of whaling captains, carpenters, Chases and Coffins. She practiced her craft at her shop on Cobble Court (so named because her mother was picking up cobbles when she went into labor with Nancy) for over fifty years. Learning to carve in wood while still a child, Chase took her first piece of ivory, a piece of whale jawbone given to her by her grandfather, and carved it into a map of Nantucket. The piece eventually graced the top of her mother’s lightship basket purse. Her career truly began when William Coffin, owner of Coffin Pharmacy where Nancy was working as a soda jerk, asked her to carve ivory sperm whale pins to sell to tourists. Years later, her carvings caught the eye of José Reyes, maker of the famous friendship basket purses with their scrimshaw decorations. Reyes approached Nancy to make 100 three-inch whales for the tops of his baskets. She agreed, eventually leaving her job at the Pacific National Bank to complete the order. Deciding to turn her craft into a business, she opened Ivory Shop on Cobble Court with life-long friend Norma Minstrell. Known for the custom basket top ornaments she did for Reyes and other basket makers, her intricate carvings soon became favorites of tourists and lightship basket collectors. Some of her finest collaborations were with her sister, basket maker Susan Chase Ottison. Tired of carving whales, Nancy was eager to try anything her clients could dream up. She carved everything from the usual maps of Nantucket and seagulls, to the exotic and whimsical. The latter included hippos that swim on the top of the basket lid while their tummies are seen underneath, a miniscule bouquet of daffodils, and a miniature tool box complete with a working set of tools. Beyond basket tops, Chase also carved everything from jewelry to figurines, cane tops to boxes. Today, Nancy is also remembered as the artist behind most of the ivory plaques and awards still given on the Island. During the 1980 presidential election, Chase was commissioned to carve the Presidential seal to top a basket for future First Lady, Nancy Reagan. Mrs. Reagan was obviously pleased with the gift as she was photographed with the basket at a charity fundraiser in California. Honoring her family’s long history on the island, Chase was deeply involved in her community. She was the first woman elected as bank trustee of the Nantucket Institute for Savings. She served on the boards of the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum and the Nantucket Historical Association and as clerk of the Land Council for a number of years.

20th Anniversary | Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum

Thank You & Welcome The NHA welcomes the team of NLBM docents and demonstrators, and thanks them for their contributions and time as together we weave a new chapter on the Nantucket lightship basket story. Volunteer Docents and Demonstrators Margit Baker

Zannie Johnson

Dale Rutherford

Jean Bennett

Jackie Kupper

Karen Palmer

Karen Bloomfield

Pat Krystofolski

Judy Paterson

Karen Butler

Janet MacKay

Nancy Perone

Judy Collatz

Debby McIntosh

Pat Perry

Betsy Dillard

Robert Mitchell

Judy Prohaska

Tori Dixon

Joyce & Jim Morgan

Sandy Taylor

Cathy Fleming

Eileen Ouellette

Nancy Tower Scott

Mary Gillispie

Sandie Owen

Sarah Wright

Louise Hubbard

Eleanor Roethke

Jane Jacoby

Lauren & Peter Roncetti

For more information about volunteer opportunities, please contact operations@nha.org

40 Historic Nantucket | Nantucket Historical Association

H Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum Product Now on Sale at the Museum Shop!

NHA and NLBM members receive 10% off every purchase Open online at NantucketMuseumShop.org The shop is open to museum visitors during museum hours.

P.O. BOX 1016, NANTUCKET, MA 02554–1016

PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT NANTUCKET, MA AND ADDITIONAL ENTRY OFFICES

Become A NHA Member Join us this summer to experience numerous exhibitions, virtual offerings, as well as expanded membership benefits! Go to www.nha.org or call (508) 228–1894 to take advantage of the offer. BENEFITS FOR ALL MEMBERS Free Unlimited Admission to the Whaling Museum, Historic Properties, and Research Library Free Walking Tours throughout the season Virtual Access to Scholarly Content on the NHA website, weekly e-newsletters, and digital programming Free Subscription to Historic Nantucket, the NHA’s award-winning magazine 10% Discount at the NHA’s Museum Shop and Online Shop Special NHA Discounts: Enjoy discounts on NHA craft classes, programs, and special events Invitations to Exclusive Members-Only Events including major exhibit openings, member mornings, and behind-the-scenes tours Time Travelers Benefits at over 150 museums nationwide All NHA members have Voting Rights at the NHA Annual Meeting