Arthur and Marion Landfors are the artisans behind Landfors' Nantucket Lightship Baskets. Marion, a former teacher born and raised on Martha's Vineyard, learned a bit about basket-making in Nantucket, but she claims to be mostly self-taught. Arthur, an engineer, joined Marion when he retired.
The Landfors' process of hand-crafting a basket requires immense time, experience and skill. They make all the components by hand in the traditional manner using only the best quality materials. They steam-bend the rims and handles from oak or cherry wood, and delicately shape and contour the handles at the rim. The staves or ribs of each basket are straight and the weavers are closely and evenly packed with no visible splicing. They use ivory for the buttons and base plugs. They sand and hand-rub the handles and bases to a fine furniture finish - until the baskets positively glow.
Among the many awards won by the Landfors are blue ribbons at the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair. They have crafted an ornament for the Blue Room White House Christmas Tree and have baskets on display in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, and the Danforth Museum of Art.
The Landfors teach small classes and make a few custom baskets each year. They intentionally keep their venture small and refined to insure the integrity and value of the treasures they make.
The entry deadline for the 2023 Directory of
Traditional American Crafts has passed. We are now processing entries and submitting
them to our jurors. We will contract entrants after the jurors have made ther decisions.
BACKGROUND
