Corey Alston - The Short List

Coiled sweetgrass and bulrush baskets by Corey Alston, a Gullah Geechee basket maker from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, whose work is in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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15 October, 10:00 AM

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Each one the only one

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The Short List

Corey Alston

Coiled sweetgrass and bulrush baskets from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, by the Gullah Geechee maker whose work is in the Smithsonian.

Edition0 pieces, no two alike

MadeSweetgrass, bulrush and palmetto, sewn by hand

ShippingPacked by hand and shipped insured

Corey Alston - The Short List

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The maker

From the City Market to the Smithsonian

Corey Alston is a Gullah Geechee sweetgrass basket maker from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and most days you'll find him weaving at his stall in the Charleston City Market. His work is held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Mint Museum and the South Carolina State Museum, where his basket Big Percy stands 52.6 inches tall. This summer Guinness World Records confirmed it as the largest sweetgrass basket in the world. He learned the craft from his wife, Karen, and her mother, and he gives them the credit.

The material

Sewn, not woven

Every basket begins as one tight spiral at the center and is built outward, row by row, each coil sewn to the last with strips of palmetto. The tool is a sewing bone, traditionally a filed-down spoon handle. Corey works in pale green sweetgrass and darker bulrush, the older and tougher of the two, which is what lets a large basket hold its shape. The technique came to the Lowcountry with the coiled rice baskets of Sierra Leone, and it has passed from hand to hand ever since.

At home

Made to be used

The baskets people bring Corey to repair have usually spent decades on a shelf, and the grass has dried and gone brittle. His view is plain: these were made for work, in the house and in the fields, and they should still be used. Put bread in one at dinner, or lemons on the counter all winter. A basket that's filled, emptied and handled keeps some of the life it was made with.

Read the full story of Corey's work in Our Journal

Practical

Before it ships

How will it arrive?

Packed by hand and shipped insured. If it arrives damaged, send us a photograph and we’ll replace it or make it right.

Can I send it back?

Yes — within fourteen days of delivery. These are made by hand, so expect variation in color and finish from piece to piece. That isn’t a fault; it’s the work.

What if it sells before I decide?

Then it’s gone. Each of these is the only one, and there’s no reordering — the next firing makes different pots.

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Corey Alston - The Short List

Corey Alston

Corey Alston - The Short List

From the City Market to the Smithsonian

Sewn, not woven

Made to be used

Before it ships

Next on the list

Get on The Short List

Our Retail Location

114 Bull StreetSavannah, GA

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114 Bull Street
Savannah, GA