Posted 5 years ago
Davis
(1 item)
Bought this basket in 1990's not knowing what it is. I thought is might be northwest coast because of the top knob. But the inside color had me stumped. Figured it was not African because its weave is very fine.
I would love to know what it is. It's about 6 in x 5 in. It must have originally been vivid blue as the exterior is notably faded. Even though the weave is extremely fine and delicately done, it is in mint condition.
The basket is Chinese, of the type illustrated in Bryan Sentance's book "Art of the Basket, Traditional Basketry from Around the World," where it is correctly identified as a "Chinese twined rush basket, made for export." The ones you see most frequently have a small flat braided handle on the lid. They are shipped with several others nested inside, to save on space. This is the outer basket that smaller ones (with the flat handle, rather than the knob handle) are nested in.
They are often mistaken for Northwest Coast Native American baskets, since they are basically the same size, and similar shape. But the Native American baskets are made from cedar and beargrass, with a different twining stitch, which is more square-shaped, rather than long and thin like on the Chinese baskets.