Stephen Gibbs (1896-1974)
“Stephen Gibbs and his wife Loretta operated a basket shop for 20 years where they made and sold Lightship Baskets. The shop was located at the rear of his brother-in-law’s house on Madaket Road. The couple also ran a small bed and breakfast out of the house he was raised in to supplement their income. This house is located on the corner of Ash Lane and North Water St.
Prior to his basket work Stephen Gibbs was an accomplished woodworker and builder on Nantucket, giving him the knowledge to make all of the components for his baskets. After he suffered a heart attack, he turned to the less physical work of making Nantucket baskets, with general focus on ladies’ handbags.
Although it is said that Stephen Gibbs is mainly a self-taught Nantucket basket maker, he was introduced to basketry when as a small boy. Stephen’s mother had him bring supper to Mitchy Ray, once in a while. Ray was a well-known island character, as well as a third generation Nantucket basket maker, whose neighbors were accustomed to looking after the confirmed bachelor.
Stephen Gibbs wove baskets for 20 years from 1954 until he passed away in 1974; his baskets are among the finest woven and highest quality of this time period. Gibbs used oak for his staves and frequently placed a long ivory clasp to hold the peg on his purses. This clasp has become a trademark of a Gibbs baskets.
Stephen Gibbs’ nephew, Douglas Porchette, has been quoted as saying, “they were always two years behind in orders.” Some would call a Gibbs basket indestructible. Ask any current weaver who has completed a repair on one of Mr. Gibbs’ baskets!” ~ Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum
Recent Examples at Auction
- Joan Albaugh
- Ethel Anderson
- William D. Appleton
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- John Austin
- Milton Avery
- Solon Francis Montecello Badger
- James Francis Barker
- Doris & Richard Beer
- Eugene Louis Boudin
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- Albert Bross
- Robert Bushong
- Polly Bushong
- James Edward Buttersworth
- Ralph Eugene Cahoon
- Martha Cahoon
- Nikita Carpenko
- Lincoln J. Ceely
- Frederick S Chadwick
- Rodney Charman
- Frank Swift Chase
- Leander M Churbuck
- Elizabeth Rebecca Coffin
- Anne Ramsdell Congdon
- Colin Campbell Cooper
- Laura Cooper
- Mellie Cooper
- Frank Corso
- James Cromartie
- Roy Cross
- Vu Cao Dam
- William R. Davis
- Gene Davis
- Molly Dee
- Donald Demers
- John Devaney
- William Duffy
- Lawrence Charmichael Earle
- Henry Stephens Eddy
- Alan J. Eddy
- Virginia Bargar Evans
- José Fabri-Canti
- John Falato
- George Gardner Fish
- Annie Barker Folger
- James Walter Folger
- Stephen Gibbs
- André Gisson
- Sybil Goldsmith
- Emile Albert Gruppe
- Marilyn Guerinot
- Mauritz Frederik Hendrick de Haas
- Davis Hall
- Kerry Hallam
- James Harrington
- James Hathaway
- Lowell Herrero
- Jason Emerson Herron
- Philip Hicken
- George Frank Higgins
- G.S. Hill
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- Emily Hoffmeier
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- George Inness
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- Edgar W. Jenney
- Theodore Jeremenko
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- Illya Kagan
- Michael Keane
- William Keith
- David Kooharian
- Kenneth Layman
- David Lazarus
- George Lear
- Richard Hayley Lever
- John Lochtefeld
- Harriet Lord
- Richard Loud
- William W. Lowe
- Michael Lynch
- William Starbuck Macy
- William Ferdinand Macy
- Wendell Macy
- Aletha Macy
- George Herbert McCord
- Keith McDaniel
- Joseph McGurl
- Maggie Meredith
- Addison Thomas Millar
- Jan L. Munro
- Mary Sarg Murphy
- Mark Myers
- Tom Nicholas
- Reginald Eugene Nickerson
- Michael A. Palmer
- Margaret Jordan Patterson
- Jan Pawlowski
- Edgar Payne
- C. Robert Perrin
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- Lenka Rubenstein
- Elizabeth Saltonstall
- Andrew Jackson Sandsbury
- Tony Sarg
- Issac Sheffield
- Andrew Shunney
- Henry Pember Smith
- Lillian Gertrude Smith
- H. Stadler
- Richard Stalter
- Robert Stark Jr.
- William Pierce Stubbs
- Mara Superior
- Ruth Haviland Sutton
- Ferdinand Sylvaro
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- Tim Thompson
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- Isabelle Hollister Tuttle
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