16 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



VOL. XXXV. 



Checkerwork. — Basketwork in which the crossing elements are 

 equally flexible and the checks are rectangular. It may be open or 

 close, vertical, or oblique. (See figs. 1, 7, 14, 16.) 



Fig. 14, from Rumpin River, Pahang (Cat. No. 219966, U.S.N.M.), 

 and Plate I make plain what is meant by the term " close checker- 

 work." both in upright and oblique technic. The only difference 

 between them and open checkerwork is in spacing and not in method. 

 In the Malaysian area the basket-makers produce all sorts of fanciful 

 shapes in checker by folding back the strips. 



Chevron. — V-shape technic in which two or more colored lines meet 

 at an angle. (Compare Herringbone and Zigzag.) 



Chinking. — Soft materials between hard stems and soft technic. 

 Seen in the bottoms and upsetting of many Abbott baskets, to protect 

 delicate work. 



a b 



Fig 14. — Upright («) and oblique (b) checkerwouk. 



Classification. — (See Structural part* and Technic.) The parts of 

 basketwork in Malaysia arc so numerous and varied, their technical 

 processes so diversified and associated, and the uses of the products 

 are so multiplied, that classification is difficult for the whole fabric. 

 A division by materials, function, bottom, body, framework, carry- 

 ing parts, decoration, or technical processes must end there. A bark 

 gutta tub will be a regular museum of added knotwork and a paddy 

 basket a wonderful study in braiding. 



<'<>il<<l basketry. — Basketwork in which a foundation of hard or 

 soft material, arranged in a flat, cylindrical, or conic spiral, is held 

 together by means of over-and-over sewing or wrapping. In the 

 Abbott collections, owing to the abundance and fitness of rattan, the 

 single-rod foundation is far the most common kind, and beautiful 

 examples are seen. The fineness of close coiling depends on the 

 number of turns to the inch. 



