Hawker Baskets Real Vietnamese Street Seller Baskets

Hawker Baskets

Traditional Baskets of Vietnam

We think we are the only one who has been able to source these. I managed to locate a seller of these in Hoi An, Vietnam and negotiated a fair trade price.

This is the real deal and is used by street sellers all over Vietnam to sell and carry everything from Pho to fruit, vegetables, refreshments, and even chickens!

The set includes:

1m approx bamboo pool
2 lovely traditional baskets 31cm in diameter, 13cm high
2 bamboo basket suspenders – you fit the baskets inside them and then attach to the pole

optional extras (if you want these see our other advert here)

Fan – a traditional woven fan to keep cool
Conical Hat (called a Non La) to keep the sun and rain off your head.

We also sell a basket set (see our other adverts) of flatter baskets which is also used and will fit inside these carriers.

This is an opportunity to buy a real bit of vietnam and is an authentic prop for theatre or production companies. It would amke a great unique selling station for markets and festivals also.

This is difficult to pack due to the strange shapes and sizes of the items included but resat assured it will be professionally packed and will get to you safe.

The baskets are made from palm leaves and lengths of bamboo for the outer edge. Any imperfections in these baskets simply add to their authenticity. These are a true symbol of Vietnam and its crafts.

Dimensions: 34cm diameters and 16cm deep. They are solid baskets, not flexible. These also fix Ikea Kallax shelves but are far more attractive than ikeas mass produced efforts.

Weight unpacked is 1kg, packed will be 1.5kg. The price reflects the shipping costs from Vietnam, the cost to buy it, import taxes and VAT, packing costs and packing materials.

Background

Baskets are important items in the household of ethnic minority people in Vietnam. They are for example used to transport fresh fruit and vegetables to a local market to sell.. Hand-woven by skilled artisans, each basket is uniquely-made out of sustainable seagrass from Vietnam. The seagrass is smoked to cure it and then hand-dipped in a water-based paint to add a pop of colour.

The baskets appear to be made by weaving a square with a loose twill weave, with four or even five strips being crossed in one weave, then filling the sides with smaller strips pulled up into a semicircle, and then drawing the corners of the square together to make the bowl shape.

These baskets are sourced from the maker in Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site and are in everyday use all over Vietnam. You can see a time-lapse video of the general technique here. Theres also a great blog post showing the variety of baskets being made in Vietnam here.

Our Hawker Baskets are fairly traded and we thank the wonderful Giang who helps us to continue to sell them. More baskets available in the basket section of our shop.