MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) — The world’s largest sweetgrass basket ever documented on record as art now sits at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia as part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Renowned Gullah artist Corey Alston of Mount Pleasant spent one year creating the masterpiece he calls “Big Percy.” The basket measures 11 feet round, stands 5 feet tall and weighs 80 pounds.
“This is the largest piece that’s been documented for the last 100 years. It’s going to live in Columbia, but it’s truly Mt. Pleasant,” Alston said.
Materials and construction
The basket incorporates traditional Gullah materials. Alston used bulrush, a darker brown biblical grass, along with sweetgrass as the main material. Palmetto leaves from South Carolina’s state tree serve as the threading that holds everything together, with red tint and pine used in the center knot…