Bead-and-Pin Basket

Dateca. 1950

MediumPlastic, safety pins, iron wire, copper wire

DimensionsOH: 8.25 in.; OW: 8.25 in.; OD: 9.5 in.

Credit LineGift of Jay E. Cantor

Object number2017.1500.1

DescriptionBasket form assembled with repeated pattern of plastic beads in alternating red and white palette, strung onto the bars of large safety pins, linked with rings of iron wire at each interval. The changing number of pins attached to each ring of wire determines the structural integrity of that course, with the outermost ring taking on a malleable, undulating appearance. Additional copper wire with bead pattern forms the handle.Label TextThis basket was constructed using a repeated pattern of beads strung onto large safety pins. Objects like this were a popular "do-it-yourself" home craft in the 1950s and 1960s.