Woven Basket

Samtaegi, or basket, is a multi-purpose farming tool. It was used to scoop up and spread manure, ashes, crops, or soil, and it was also used to scoop up ashes from a furnace, to move waste or soil, and to scoop up crops when threshing. While working in the fields, it was carried under the user’s arm to spread seeds or manure. The basket was made using various materials, such as thin bush clover, bamboo strips, kudzu, straw, etc. Mountainous regions wove samtaegi with kudzu or bush clover, while regions rich in bamboo trees utilized bamboo strips and left a hand-sized hole on both sides as handles. Those woven using straw strings first crafted a basic frame for the basket by bending vines into U shapes to be used as the handle, and then weaving the rest of the basket. The rear and inner sides are concave, while the front is open wide, so that it is easy to scoop up or store and scatter grains or powdered matters. The bottom of the front part was usually made into two thick, strong layers to ensure durability when scooping up grains or ashes. Today, the use of plastic or tin has rendered the traditional samtaegi largely obsolete.