What may be the largest documented sweetgrass basket ever made is now on display at the South Carolina State Museum, crafted by a Mount Pleasant artisan.
Corey Alston’s “Big Percy” stands 5 ft tall, stretches nearly 4 ft wide, and weighs 80 pounds. The museum is submitting it to Guinness World Records as the largest documented basket of its kind. The newly commissioned work will become part of the museum’s permanent collection and is on view in the renovated Lipscomb Art Gallery.
Commissioned in fall 2024 and completed after months of hand-sewing sweetgrass, palmetto fronds and pine needles, the basket honors generations of Gullah Geechee makers who preserved the West African coiled tradition.
Big Percy will remain on display through the middle of next year alongside a basket made by Alston’s late grandmother-in-law, bridging centuries of craftsmanship.