This antique basket comes from France and dates from the late 19th or early 20th century. It is a shallow, open gathering basket with a wide oval mouth, sloping sides and a single arched handle. It was made for practical use, perhaps for harvesting, market shopping or carrying produce, and the construction is sturdy and unfussy.
The basket is woven from flat wooden splints in a simple over-and-under pattern, over a frame of broader vertical ribs. Wider strips are bent over the rim and held in place as reinforcement, and the handle is a single curved band of wood fixed at the centre. The wood has a warm, honey-to-tobacco-brown patina from age and handling, with a dry, softly worn surface.
It works well as storage for logs, kindling, magazines, blankets or firewood, as a planter cover, or simply as a sculptural piece on a table, shelf or kitchen counter.
