To Market, To Market ... baskets for chickens

A huge variety of baskets have been used over the centuries to take produce to market, as seen in this Market Scene from 1550 by Aertsen. Click on picture to see larger view with details of the baskets.

Goods could be transported in baskets on the back [At the Market Stall, 17th cen.], in an apron [Wheatley, Cries of London, 1796], or in baskets on the back of animals [Wheatley, 1796].

Specialty baskets were made to hold certain items such as poultry or eels. A search of World Gallery of Art for 'Market' shows several examples [bottom right corners] of baskets for chickens or birds from the 16th and 17th centuries. Later examples are an enclosed basket from 1786 [Wheatley's Return from Market] and a chicken in an open basket from the first half of the 1800s.


A posting on Chicken ladders can be read HERE with a couple sources for reproduction chicken baskets in the comments section.

©2009 Patricia Bixler Reber
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