32 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



VOL. XXXV. 



Miter. — To give angular forms to rattan hoops, they are kerfed at 

 the proper places. More than that, though the people in their prim- 

 itive state know not the use of the saw, still they manage to produce 

 angular parts, even from hard woods, and cover ugly joints with 

 knot work. (See Kerf.) 



Molding. — In the unfinished baskets sent by Doctor Abbott for 

 study the body is being molded over a form. In the cylindrical pieces 



this may be a 

 coil of bark or a 

 round stick of 

 wood to the out- 

 side of w h i c h 

 four sharp strips 

 of bamboo are 

 lashed for shap- 

 ing the bottom 

 and starting the 

 round body. For 

 two conical spec- 

 imens from West 

 Borneo the 

 molds are old 

 baskets with a 

 number of bam- 

 boo sticks lashed 

 about them. 



Fig. 31. (Cat. 

 No. 244347, U.S. 

 N.M.) shows the 

 method of set- 

 ting up the mold 

 a n d beginning 

 the work on a 

 small, pretty siii 

 basket from 

 Lower Sakaiam 

 River, Borneo. 

 The interior 

 mold is a cylin- 

 drical block of 

 wood, not necessarily perfect in form, since outer wrappings will 

 remedy defects. At what are to be the angles of the bottom, strips of 

 bamboo are set, the pointed ends being downward, and leaf or bast is 

 tied about the outside. Before the mold is applied, the bottom is 

 woven in checker or twill, from fine strips, all of which turn up for 

 warps. The upsett is the connection between the square base and the 



Fig. 31. Process of making a basket over a wooden mold 



