Handicraft workers in wood, basketry and related materials

Handicraft workers in wood and related materials apply traditional techniques like seasoning, impregnation to prepare wood, straw, rattan, reeds, stone, clay, shells, and other materials, and carve, mould, assemble, weave, or paint and decorate various articles for personal or household use, or for decorative purposes. Basketry weavers, brush makers and related workers select and prepare materials like bristles, nylon, fibre, bass, whisker and wire to make wicker furniture, brushes and brooms and weave various kinds of baskets.

Duties and tasks

• Preparing wood, straw, rattan, reeds, shells or similar materials
• Carving floral and artistic designs on wooden surfaces for decorative purposes
• Painting freehand decorative designs on glass and pottery or porcelain ware
• Carving, assembling, weaving, painting and decorating various articles for personal or household use such as salad bowls, serving spoons, cutting-boards, trays, vases, jugs, baskets, straw hats, straw mats and similar objects
• Carving, assembling, weaving and painting various decorative articles such as statues and other sculptures, chess pieces, jewellery and similar objects
• Making wicker furniture from peeled and softened rattan, reeds, rushes, willow branches and similar materials
• Making various kinds of baskets by interlacing osier, rattan, reeds, rushes and similar materials
• Forming bottoms of baskets by interlacing strips of rattan, wood veneer or other materials with frameworks of rods of material such as willow
• Inserting rods around bottom edges between woven sections of bottom and bending them upright to serve as framework for sides
• Selecting and preparing brush materials such as bristles, nylon, fibres and wire, and setting them in brush base
• Selecting and preparing materials such as broom corn, bass, whisker and fibre, and fastening them to broom handles