Vannier - the French master of weaving

The French basketmaker in Diderot and d'Alembert’s Encyclopédie
What the profession of the “vannier” looked like in the 18th century
Series: Treasures of European Basketry - Wicker Academy

The history of European basketry has been preserved not only in museums and old workshops. One of the most important sources describing the basketmaker’s profession is the monumental “Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers”, published in Paris between 1751 and 1780 under the editorship of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. It was one of the most ambitious undertakings of the Age of Enlightenment - a work whose aim was to collect and organise all knowledge concerning science, art, technology and craftsmanship.
Among its tens of thousands of entries was also “VANNIER” - devoted to French basketmakers. The article was written by Louis de Jaucourt, one of the most distinguished encyclopaedists of the 18th century, and was supplemented by three richly illustrated plates depicting the workshop, tools and basketry products.
Today, more than 250 years later, this source allows us to look inside the workshop of a French master and see what his everyday life looked like.

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Who was Louis de Jaucourt - the man who described thousands of professions?
The author lived between 1704 and 1779 - he was a physician, scholar and philosopher. His contribution to the creation of the Encyclopédie was enormous. It is estimated that he wrote around 17,000 articles, almost one quarter of the entire work. After some of the contributors withdrew, it was he who took over a substantial part of the editorial work, allowing the encyclopaedia to be completed.
Most of his texts were signed with the initials “D.J.” - exactly the same signature also appears beneath the entry VANNIER.

Louis de Jaucourt

Let us therefore find out who the French “vannier” was

The first sentence of the article immediately shows that the basketmaker’s profession was much broader than it might seem today.
Louis de Jaucourt defines the vannier as a craftsman belonging to a professional guild (Corps de Jurande), who made or sold winnowing baskets (vans) and all kinds of wicker products: baskets, carrying baskets (hottes), woven mats (clayes),
cages, decorative baskets (corbeilles), transport baskets and many other everyday objects.
Even this brief description shows that the 18th-century French basketmaker was not merely a maker of baskets. He was a craftsman serving agriculture, trade, transport and the household.

The Parisian guild of master basketmakers

One of the most valuable parts of the article concerns the organisation of the profession. Jaucourt wrote that there was a community of master basketmakers in Paris whose statutes dated back to 1467. The statutes were approved by King Louis XI, who reigned from 1461 to 1483, and were later reformed during the reign of Charles IX, who reigned from 1560 to 1574. The reform was approved by a decision of the Royal Council in September 1561 and entered into the register of the Parliament of Paris.
This is extremely valuable information for the history of European craftsmanship, as it shows that the organisation of the profession was formally regulated as early as the 15th century.
Interestingly, other French historical studies supplement this picture by indicating that the Parisian guild had its own French jurés, religious patrons and detailed regulations concerning professional training and the quality of the products made.

It should be explained that, in this context, the “jurés” were not people judging a competition, but held an official function within the guild. In French craft guilds, the jurés were elected master craftsmen who supervised the practice of the profession. Their duties included, among other things, checking the quality of products made by guild members, supervising compliance with guild statutes and regulations, examining journeymen applying for the title of master, settling disputes between guild members, representing the guild before municipal authorities, inspecting workshops and combating illegal production outside the guild. In medieval and early modern France, the term juré therefore referred to a sworn guild elder or guild inspector. It was a position of public trust, and those who held it took an oath - hence the name juré, derived from the French verb jurer, meaning “to swear”.

Three specialisations of French basketry

One of the most interesting elements of the article is the division of the profession into specialised branches.

Mandrerie
Masters known as vanniers-mandriers produced objects with a close weave from white and green willow.
These primarily included: household baskets, practical containers and products with a compact structure.
Clôture (Closerie)
This specialisation included the production of: sieves and winnowing baskets, large transport baskets, grape-harvesting baskets and structures based on wooden elements.
Jaucourt emphasised that this was the most demanding part of the profession, requiring separate tools and considerable experience.
Faisserie
The author describes it as: “basketry proper”
It included lightweight openwork products: baskets, small harvesting baskets, small containers and everyday objects.
At the same time, he notes that many masters produced both mandrerie and faisserie items, which demonstrates the great versatility of French basketmakers.

The master’s workshop

The most impressive part of the entry consists of three plates illustrating the profession.
The first of them depicts the interior of the workshop.
We can see: a master weaving a basket, a young assistant preparing the material, a journeyman working at a table, shelves full of finished products, tools hanging on the walls, worktables and moulds used during weaving.
It is one of the most detailed 18th-century depictions of a basketmaker’s workshop to have survived to the present day.

Fig. 1. A contemporary reconstruction inspired by the “Vannier” plates from the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (Diderot and d'Alembert, 18th century). Wicker Academy

Fig. 2. A contemporary reconstruction inspired by the “Vannier” plates from the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (Diderot and d'Alembert, 18th century). Wicker Academy

The tools of the French basketmaker

The second plate presents a set of tools used by the master.
Among them, we can identify: a curved pruning knife (serpette), an awl, piercing tools, knives for splitting willow, reamers, a wooden mallet, a saw and elements used for shaping rims. What is remarkable is that many of these tools have changed very little in form and can still be found in traditional basketmaking workshops across Europe.

Fig. 3a. Le Vannier, outils - tools of the French basketmaker. Original plate from the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

Products made by 18th-century masters

The third plate shows finished products.
Among them, we can identify: a sieve or winnowing basket used for separating grain, household baskets, a lidded basket, handled baskets, boxes, bowls and transport containers.
This is an extremely interesting collection because it shows how broad the output of French workshops was. Basketmakers produced not only everyday objects, but also equipment for agriculture, trade and transport.

Fig. 4a. Le Vannier, ouvrages et outils - examples of products and tools used by French basketmakers. Original plate from the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

The sieve (winnowing basket) - a symbol of French basketmaking

In the previous Wicker Academy article, we showed that three sieves or winnowing baskets appeared on the historic coat of arms of French basketmakers. For 18th-century French people, they were the most characteristic products of this profession and a symbol of the entire craft. In this way, the two sources - heraldic and encyclopaedic - complement each other.

Why is the entry “VANNIER” so important?

Louis de Jaucourt’s article is more than a definition of a profession.
It provides a comprehensive description of: the organisation of the craft guild, production specialisations, the workshop, tools and finished products.
Together with the plates, it forms one of the most important records of 18th-century European basketry and allows us to reconstruct the everyday work of a French master from more than two and a half centuries ago.

Summary

Thanks to Diderot and d'Alembert’s Encyclopédie, we can view French basketry not only as a craft, but as a well-organised profession with a centuries-old tradition, its own specialisations, tools and clearly defined working principles.
It is precisely sources such as this that allow us today to reconstruct the history of European basketmaking and show that basket weaving was one of the important branches of the former economy and material culture of France.

Bibliography

Diderot, Denis; d'Alembert, Jean le Rond (red.). Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (1751–1780). Bibliothèque nationale de France.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopédie#/media/File:Denis_Diderot_111.PNG