Mary Causby North Carolina Melon Basket

Circa 1900-1910: It is always a treat to find an early Mary Causby (Burke County, North Carolina 1873-1955) basket with the distictive vertical twist knot she used on her finest work. This beautiful petite melon basket measures 7" tall to the top of the handle and 8" in width and features her signature knot, a handle in very early though likely original black paint, and a superb rich patinated original surface. Condition is excellent with three very minor breaks, expected shelf wear on the bottom, and oxidized round nail consturction, all commensurate with age and use. Recorded as a "basketmaker" in in the 1900 North Carolina census, Mary Brown grew up in Burke County's Quaker Meadow Township and learned the trade in her childhood years from her father Robert (1842-1904). On April 24, 1901, Mary would wed John Nelson Causby (1867-1940) and in 1904 give birth to the couple's only child, daughter Esmer Temperance Causby. Mary Causby lived her entire life in Burke County, North Carolina, and would probably be surprised that she has become touted, deservedly so, as one of the nation's most celebrated basket makers.