The Harmattan — Fringed Bolga Sculpture Basket

Elephant grass in two natural tones, pale straw and warm brown, spirals up through a deep, twisting body to a narrow neck. There the weaving stops and the grass breaks free: a crown of loose, twisted strands spills over the top and falls down the sides like grass blown sideways in a dry-season wind. It’s named for the Harmattan, the wind that sweeps across northern Ghana each winter and bends the savanna grass this way. At 25 inches tall, this is the largest and most dramatic piece in the collection. It’s a sculpture first. Give it a plinth, a console or a corner of the floor with room around it.

Bolga baskets have been woven in Ghana’s Upper East Region for generations, as sifters, storage, and everyday carriers. Nanasei Agyemang and the Bolgatanga weavers he trains soften the same grass in water and shape it by hand into forms that sit between vessel and art. Here, leaving the ends unwoven turns the basket into something closer to a living plant. No two are alike, and this is the only one. For the collector, a design-led home, or a once-in-a-while gift that’s meant to be noticed.

Approx. 25 in H × 21 in L × 25 in W (64 × 53 × 64 cm) · 3 lbs · Hand-harvested elephant grass in natural and brown  tones, with a loose twisted-grass fringe · Handwoven in Ghana by Nanasei Agyemang