Hi Daniel,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

Sweetgrass basketmaking in the American South is a craft rooted in West African weaving traditions brought by enslaved Africans, particularly those from rice-growing regions such as Sierra Leone. In coastal South Carolina and Georgia, especially among the Gullah Geechee people, artisans adapted these skills using locally available materials like sweetgrass, bulrush, palmetto, and longleaf pine needles. By the 18th and 19th centuries, these baskets became essential tools in rice cultivation, used for winnowing grain.

After emancipation, basketmaking shifted from agricultural utility to a cultural and economic practice, sold in Charleston markets and along roadsides such as Highway 17 near Mount Pleasant. Families passed down techniques orally and through hands-on apprenticeship, preserving distinctive coiling methods and patterns. In the 20th century, development and habitat loss threatened sweetgrass habitats, making the craft more difficult to sustain. Today, it remains a powerful symbol of Gullah Geechee heritage and resilience, valued as both functional art and cultural identity.

I am very familiar with Southern baskets - those from the 18th and 19th Century as well as 20th Century - and I'm sorry to tell you that this is not a mid 19th Century basket but rather made at least 100 years after that, in the mid 20th Century.

Beverly Grant is a noted sweetgrass basket weaver, though she is more locally known rather than nationally prominent.

She is the owner of Bev’s Sweetgrass Basket, a family-run business in the South Carolina Lowcountry. She produces traditional Gullah Geechee sweetgrass baskets and related crafts, continuing the long coastal tradition of coiled basketry passed down through generations. Her work is typically sold alongside other makers in the Charleston/Mount Pleasant basket community, where weaving is both a cultural practice and a livelihood.

Her baskets of this size usually retail for between $400 and $600 depending on complexity of design and bring between $150 and $250 when sold at auction.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

A vintage Southern style woven sweet-grass basket
attributed to Beverly Grant, Charleston, SC, late 20th Century
Of circular section and flat shape, with 8 rim knots, with a detached label.
4 inches high by 12 inches diameter
CONDITION: this basket appears in very good condition
PROVENANCE: Acquired at auction
$ 150-250*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia