No, no, no," he told me on the phone, "he's not the last basket maker!
And he's laughing at my mistake, because I really believed him. According to him, according to the accounts of the official basketry body, there are still at least a hundred of them in France, who, despite the crates, despite the plastic, are still working in this craft whose know-how has passed from century to century, from hand to hand, and from generation to generation.
No, he thinks he is simply the last of a line of six generations of basket makers... Although, you never know, he has a grandson... but well, as this one is still in the cradle, it is difficult to know what his vocation will be!
A workshop, a village, and markets...
The Hérisset family has always had its workshop in the village of Rannée, where they made a very solid basket typical of the region, the hoop basket, a familiar companion to farmers and fishermen.
Jean-Claude Hérisset, who now practises, took over his father's tools in 1981, and is now the last basket maker in this long family line.
He has considerably expanded the range of his achievements, as can be seen on his website. And the quality of his work is recognized. For example, he made a large number of baskets for the restaurant "Le Rural", opened in Paris by chef Marc Veyrat.
A brother who writes the profession....
He has a brother, Roger, who became aware that there was no writing about this profession, totally absent from the scientific and media field.
He is therefore writing a State thesis in ethnology on braiding techniques in Brittany.
About ten years of research, and the thesis is defended in 2012 at the University of Western Brittany, in Brest.
"Basketry in Brittany" describes this craft globally, placing in an anthropological context all the know-how, all the techniques, which are detailed, and illustrated...
In an interview with Ouest-France, he felt it was "moving" to report on "the continuous presence of basketry on the territory since the end of the Iron Age", constituting "an ancient heritage, secular techniques, which have survived to this day".
This exciting book, with more than 400 pages and 1300 illustrations, is not only technical, far from it.
"It is also interesting for readers who do not have technical knowledge, but who want to deepen their knowledge of Brittany, its tangible culture, and its intangible cultural heritage" (Ouest-France).
It is obviously him that we have chosen to present for the section "To go further", at the end of the article.
Jean-Claude Hérisset
Les Grands-Ormeaux
35130 Rannée
Tél. : 07 50 91 58 70
http://panierherisset.e-monsite.com/
*** Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
(free version) ***
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