Travelling Basket Sellers in 18th- and 19th-Century France
Imagine a time when buying a basket did not mean going to a shop - instead, the shop came to you. Travelling through French towns and villages were marchands de paniers, or basket sellers, carrying dozens of handwoven items on their backs. They were not merely salesmen, but also ambassadors of the craft, bringing basketry to places far from workshops and marketplaces.
Although this profession has now almost completely disappeared, several remarkably valuable visual records have survived, allowing us to reconstruct everyday life on the streets of old France. Together, they tell a fascinating story of trade, craftsmanship and enterprise from more than two hundred years ago.
From Craftsman to Customer
During the 18th and 19th centuries, most baskets were made in small family workshops. Specialist shop networks did not yet exist, so travelling sellers played an essential role. They bought goods directly from basket makers and sold them to people living in towns and villages.
They carried almost every kind of basket imaginable: agricultural baskets, market baskets, food baskets, shopping baskets, storage containers, trays and shallow practical forms.
It was a genuine mobile shop, with the seller’s own shoulders serving as its shelves.
The Earliest Depictions of Basket Sellers
1. Marchand de paniers - Adolphe Eugène Gabriel Roehn, 1817
One of the earliest surviving depictions is a colourful lithograph from the 1817 series Nouveaux Cris de Paris. The artist shows a seller almost completely hidden beneath an impressive load of baskets. The sheer variety of shapes is particularly striking, ranging from small baskets to large household containers.
It is one of the first realistic depictions of a Parisian street basket seller, rather than an allegorical representation of the profession.
Fig.1. Marchand de paniers (“Basket Seller”), 1817
Colour lithograph by Adolphe Eugène Gabriel Roehn (1780-1867), from the series Nouveaux Cris de Paris, showing a travelling seller carrying a wide selection of handwoven wicker baskets on his back. Source: Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris, inventory no. G.18336.
2. Le marchand de paniers - Henri Hartmann Collection
Another exceptionally valuable source is an anonymous print published in the catalogue of the 1900 Paris Exposition. Its caption states only that it came from the private collection of Henri Hartmann, one of France’s most important collectors of art associated with traditional crafts.
In the illustration, the seller appears almost like a living advertisement for his own goods. The baskets form an enormous structure around his entire body, while their number demonstrates just how wide a selection was available to customers.
This print later became the inspiration for a modern colour reconstruction prepared by Wicker Academy.
Fig. 2. Le marchand de paniers (“The Basket Seller”).
Historical print showing a French travelling basket seller. Reproduction published in the catalogue Musée rétrospectif de la classe 98 for the Paris Exposition of 1900. The original came from the collection of Henri Hartmann. Colour reconstruction: Wicker Academy.
“Cries of Paris” - The Basket Seller Among the Street Trades
In the mid-19th century, Victor Adam created his famous series Cries of Paris and Plebeian Customs, depicting fifteen characteristic street trades of Paris.
Alongside an umbrella seller, milkmaid, newspaper seller and chimney sweeps appeared the Marchand de paniers - the basket seller. His inclusion in the series shows that he was a familiar part of the urban landscape and a well-known figure on the streets of Paris.
At the time, wicker baskets were essential for trade, domestic life, bakeries, market stalls and the transport of food.
Fig. 3. Victor Adam (1801-1866), Cries of Paris and Plebeian Customs, c. 1847.
Lithograph depicting fifteen traditional street trades of Paris, including a basket seller (Marchand de paniers). Source: Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris, inventory no. G.24793. Colour reconstruction: Wicker Academy.
When Photography Replaced the Print
Towards the end of the 19th century, the work of street sellers was also captured by the renowned French photographer Eugène Atget.
In his photograph from around 1899-1900, we see a real basket seller walking along a Parisian street. He carries more than a dozen different wicker items on his shoulders, exactly as they had been depicted in earlier prints.
The photograph is an exceptionally important historical record, as it confirms that the scenes shown in earlier illustrations genuinely reflected everyday life on the streets of France.
Fig. 4. Marchand de paniers, Paris, c. 1899-1900.
Photograph by Eugène Atget (1857-1927) showing a street basket seller. Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France, public domain. Colourisation and reconstruction: Wicker Academy.
An Encounter on Rue Mouffetard
In another photograph by Eugène Atget, the seller has stopped to speak to a female customer. It is a remarkable moment, showing how sales took place directly in the street, without a shop or display window.
The baskets hanging from his back served as a travelling display, allowing any passer-by to inspect the goods at close range.
Fig. 5. Rue Mouffetard - Marchand de paniers, Paris, c. 1899-1900.
Photograph by Eugène Atget showing wicker goods being sold in the street. Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France. Colourisation and reconstruction: Wicker Academy.
Wicker at the Parisian Markets
Baskets were an inseparable part of Parisian market life. They were used to transport flowers, vegetables, fruit and many other goods. Historical photographs show entire market stalls equipped with wicker crates, display baskets and storage containers.
These images demonstrate that basketry was an important part of urban trade and the everyday lives of city residents.
Fig. 6. Paris flower market, c. 1898-1900.
Historical photograph showing wicker goods in use at one of the markets of Paris. Source: Eugène Atget, Musée Carnavalet. Colourisation: Wicker Academy.
A Legacy That Endured
Although travelling basket sellers disappeared from European streets more than a century ago, they left behind exceptionally valuable records of material culture. Prints, lithographs and photographs reveal not only the remarkable variety of traditional basketry forms, but also the importance of the craftspeople and sellers who supplied wicker goods to homes, farms and marketplaces for generations.
Today, thanks to digital archives and the research carried out by Wicker Academy, we can rediscover the history of European basketry and remember the people who helped make wicker an inseparable part of everyday life.
Bibliography
- Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris, Marchand de paniers, inventory no. G.18336.
- Victor Adam, Cries of Paris and Plebeian Customs, c. 1847. Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris, inventory no. G.24793.
- Eugène Atget, Marchand de paniers, c. 1899–1900. Bibliothèque nationale de France.
- Musée rétrospectif de la classe 98. Brosserie, Maroquinerie, Tabletterie et Vannerie à l’Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 à Paris. Saint-Cloud: Imprimerie Belin Frères, 1900. CNUM.
