Chapters
00:00 – Intro
00:14 – Baskets 101: The Feel Test
01:01 – Machine Cuts vs. Drawing Knife Splits
03:18 – Why Smaller Baskets Matter
04:16 – The Basket That Makes You Say Oh
05:11 – Dating Old Baskets by Feel and Wear
07:50 – How to Know When Not to Pass It Up
15:09 – The Best Basket You’ll Ever See
18:10 – A Known Maker vs Unknown Maker
19:15 – Who Got You Into Baskets?
23:05 – Sully Joins to Talk About Wild Marvin Bailey Jugs
28:20 – Lanier Meaders and the Rock Teeth Secret
36:43 – Billy Ray Hussey’s Rare Medusa Lion
38:16 – Why the Buyer Might Be More Rare Than the Basket
42:30 – Buying Smart: What to Watch for at Festivals
46:16 – When We Say Hickory, We Mean Catawba

In this episode of House of Folk Art, Matt sits down with Kyle and Sully for what might be the most passionate basket tutorial ever recorded. What starts as a crash course in old basket identification turns into a hands-on showcase of Southern craftsmanship, as Matt works through a table of examples, building toward what he calls “the best basket you’ll ever see in your life.”

They cover how to judge quality by feel, how to spot hand-cut splints, and why tiny baskets often show off the most skill. Along the way, they talk pricing, provenance, and the influence of makers like Mary Causby. One standout piece is so refined Matt says no museum has one better.

Later, Sully joins as the crew pivots to pottery. First up is a Marvin Bailey jug covered in mini face jugs. Then comes Lanier Meaders’ “rock teeth” and a wild Medusa lion jug by Billy Ray Hussey. These pieces spark conversations about auction value, collecting philosophies, and the rarest thing in the game, a serious buyer.

This episode is a reminder that collecting is about seeing. A great basket doesn’t demand attention, it earns it. You feel it in the tension of the weave, the worn handle, the balance of form and function. It’s not just old. It’s honest.

What Matt, Kyle, and Sully uncover here is reverence. Reverence for skill, for patience, for the invisible decisions a maker made that shaped something lasting. And when the right piece lands in the right hands, no one needs to explain why it matters. You just know.