Toka Baskets – Collection
All Toka products feature African motifs, which are full of meaning. All are made in the old, pure, and traditional manner.
Toka has become a dream opportunity for the weavers and clay artisans who produce the product. For them it is a chance to go deep into their own traditions to create into modern times while still maintaining the best of their traditional rural lifestyle. It is a chance for them to share their culture and tradition.
Toka is about creating opportunity in Africa. Toka is about maintaining African tradition and culture. Toka is about sharing the culture with America. Toka is about bringing the best of Africa to you.
Browse By Category
About Bridget Meyer & Toka Baskets
Bridget Meyer was born in a tiny African village on the Zambesi River only five miles from Victoria Falls. She left home to attend a Zambian boarding school and upon graduating she was not only the first woman from her village to receive a high school diploma but also the class valedictorian.
She met and began dating an American who was in Zambia working as a whitewater-rafting guide on the Zambesi River. In 1987 Bridget and Bob Meyer were married in a traditional African Ceremony. In 1990 they moved to the USA.
Although Bridget loves living in the USA, she missed her native Zambia. She wanted to keep in touch with her home. She also wanted to introduce the people of her new home, USA, to the culture of Africa. In 1991 she started an import company and named it Toka, In 1993 her husband Bob joined the company.
Bridget and Bob knew that Africa was full of cultural, wonder and beauty. Their goal was to share that beauty with America. They introduced products that were not only attractive but also told a bit of the history about life in Africa. Their first success was with the wonderful wedding baskets. These were followed by a line of earthenware called African Clay Vessels. In 1999 Toka began importing Kuba Cloth textiles from the Congo.
Old Baskets
Wedding basket are one of the most useful items that African women own. They are used to collect grain and vegetables from the field. They are filled with cassava roots and the basket is set on the roof of the house so that the roots will dry in the sun. They are used to store seeds. When the women willow or separate the impurities from their cooking flour they do it by shaking or winnowing the flour. The baskets are then used the store the flour. Often times the baskets are used to serve food.
Because the baskets are so heavily used they show signs of wear. Holes or breaks will appear. Each basket takes a month or more to weave so often the women will opt to repair a basket rather than weave a new one. They will use patches made of banana leaf or corn husk to cover the broken area. This patch is woven into place using the same makenge roots with which the basket was originally made. Once patched the basket can be used for many more years.
It is not unusual to find adult women using baskets which are older than they are. When questioned about a particular basket's age they have replied that the basket has been used as long as they can remember. It is difficult to weave a basket using the makenge root and it takes a much longer time to weave them than it does to weave baskets made of other materials but no other basket can last as long as these baskets. Because they can last so long despite such heavy use they are able to obtain the dark brown patinas.