清末民初縷空式編織有蓋小食籃）This is a somewhat unusual small antique bamboo woven basket with an open-weave design and a nice lid. This basket was woven with a solid open pattern possibly for carrying food in the hot weather when the air ventilation is needed. The blossom shape brass fitting on the lid is old and has a nice patina. The woven pattern, although looks simple, is woven with varying considerations with different tightness at different parts of the basket, composed mostly of small triangular and hexagonal shapes that is very similar to that of the lattice patterns we see on some of the old Chinese wooden lattice doors and windows (窗格式編織) . Towards the rim and the bottom of the basket, one can see from the detailed photos, that there are much tighter weaves to make these areas stronger and to last longer from use. The woven mesh on this basket is so tight and strong that it feels like an unbreakable net of steel rather than bamboo! Though the basket is not very big, it is woven with intricate sizes of hand-split bamboo threads spreading out from the bottom up, creating almost an illusion of a night sky with scattering stars with its intricacy. There are not many old Chinese bamboo woven baskets available outside of the more common variety of groups as one-of-a-kind baskets because bamboo baskets were often created in multiple quantities for their utilitarian functions. This sweet little basket is uniquely one-of-a-kind and is in excellent condition. It makes a nice addition to any collection of antique Chinese woven baskets.

Dimensions: 10” in diameter and 16” in height (including the handle)

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