Death Basket of India Manufacured

This is the version of the Hindu Basket Trick that my Dad made in the late 1970 or early 1980s. As you can see, it is not really a basket at all, but rather an angled box with a rattan facade. The swords were made with aluminum and the handles were formed using a plastic process that my Dad's friend Mark Gregory had developed. They used the same material to make disecto arm choppers and die boxes and a coin penetration box for close up magic.

I disliked the idea of a faux basket, but as I recall there were problems finding an actual basket and the magician that wanted this needed something sturdy that they could use to hold other props as they took it on the road. Dad was not am artist, but he did have an eye for detail and the paint job on most of his work was exemplary. The bamboo style legs here are really a creative application of spray paint and lacquer.