This basket was inspired by the few historic examples of baskets made in the late 1800s with circle staves protruding through the rims. In the 35 years of making baskets in the Nantucket Tradition I have been moved to duplicate create and embellish off the rarer forms. In many cases I use recycled materials to lend more historical accuracy and just have fun. This functional little piece inspires thoughts of wonderful times spent on the many islands and beaches of our great Atlantic ocean. The staves and rims are oak, and the bottom is walnut with 2 turned circles and a bone peg in the center. Weaving is cane with three rounds of baleen obtained from a wash ashore deceased whale. There is one ivory overlay bubble, the ivory being from my grandmother’s 1920 Russian baby grand piano.

The primary wood is birdseye maple with the staves rims and handle of white oak. There is a false bottom which is turned and woven. It covers 4 pegs for spools of thread. There are two small lidded baskets and a basket pincushion also.

This is a copy of a very old basket I saw at an antique show in Tennessee in 1985. I have never seen another. It is nice with dried flowers or for outgoing mail.

This basket has a cherry turned bottom, oak staves, rims and handles. It has many uses from papers to yarn to fabric storage for quilting.

This is a classic Nantucket style with a cherry bottom and top and oak staves ,rims and handle. The peg and shells are bone

Large useful basket for summer picnics, magazines or to store your yak, silk and cashmere yarn you haven't knit yet. Bottom is walnut. Staves, rims and handles are oak.

This can be used as a small bread basket or as an item to admire and hide things in. The bottom is maple, the top is cherry, staves and rims are oak and the whale is vegetable ivory, animal friendly!

Pretty basket to hold cocktail or everyday napkins. The handle has scrimshaw of happy hydrangea. The bottom is cherry. The staves, rims and handle are oak.

Traditional Nantucket purse created from an old mold. The bottom and top are of cherry , the staves are hickory and the rims and handle are of oak. You will enjoy it for years.

The influence of this piece is a humorous play on words of the term wash ashore and its relation to one of the elements of the basket. The basket has two rounds of baleen weavers which came from a deceased right whale which washed ashore on Nantucket in the Madaket area many years ago. I was given a piece of it to repair a basket and have used it sparingly over the years. The bottom of this little basket is made from the mahogany lapstraking of a cc.1920 Chris Craft. The basket is woven of 50 year old recycled cane.