Basketry Purses

I've never been to Nantucket Island in Massachusetts, but I have long admired fabulous Nantucket baskets. Now the New York Times has picked up on the trendiness of Nantucket friendship baskets and their use as purses, as reported by Maria Santa Poggi in "This Little Basket Is Having a Very Good Summer" (published Aug. 13, 2026, updated Aug. 14, 2026).  Santa Poggi writes, "the friendship basket has become a woven collectible sometimes compared to an Hermes Birkin bag."  At several thousand dollars each, they are pricey. As unique works of art, they're worth the price. The article gives a good history of this form of basketry.   https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/style/nantucket-lightship-friendship-basket.html?smid=nytcore-android-share 

                                                                                

Paul F. Whitten, Nantucket Lightship Shopping Basket, 1971, rattan, oak, ivory,
and metal, (33.0 x 37.4 x 26.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Museum purchase, 1975.143. Photo courtesy SAAM.

Without lids, they're known as lightship baskets. With lids, they're friendship baskets. José  Formoso Reyes created the friendship basket. A Filipino member of the U.S. Army in World War II, he became a U.S. citizen following the war, and settled in Nantucket. He added lids and decorative  scrimshaw.  For a more in-depth history of Nantucket basketry, the Nantucket Historical Association's website has links to articles including  "José Formoso Reyes"   https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/joses-formoso-reyes/ and "A Short History of Nantucket Baskets" https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/a-short-history-of-nantucket-baskets/ 

                                                                                            

Nantucket Basket by Joan Brink
and Priscilla M. King, c1990
National Museum of the 
American Indian catalog
number 25/4731

A collaboration between weaver Joan Brink and carver Priscilla M. King resulted in this modern take on a Nantucket friendship basket. It's woven of willow and wood, and the carving is of argillite.

The friendship basket harkens back to a classically shaped lidded basket (without carved embellishments), an old form that I saw recently in “Rest on the Flight into Egypt.” The basket here is oval, with a lid, and a handle. Most likely not the type of basket around when Jesus was a babe, but nevertheless it appears in this Madonna and Child scene. Perhaps it is intended to hold Flemish chestnuts that Joseph is hitting from a tree using a stick. This is an oil on panel painted about 1510 by Gerard David in the Netherlands. The painting is currently located at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, object number 1937.1.43. Read more about it on their website, https://www.nga.gov/artworks/50-rest-flight-egypt 

Rest on the Flight into Egypt,
Gerard David, c 1510, 
National Gallery of Art 1937.1.43

Detail of Basket in Rest
on the Flight to Egypt

A tidy little purse from Akwesasne.
Photo: Bryn Potter

Finally, my own entry into the basketry purse category. Alas, it is not a Dutch antique, nor a coveted Nantucket basket, but it's just as important. It's a lovely northeastern piece from the Kanienkehake People of the Flint (Mohawk).  It's old tag proclaims "St. Regis Indian Reservation Basket." 

"The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe is the federally-recognized government of the Saint Regis Mohawk Reservation at Akwesasne. The territory under our jurisdiction lies south of the border [in New York State] dividing the United States and Canada. The lands north of the border are under the jurisdiction of our counterparts, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne"  according to the Mohawk Tribal Council website accessed 8/15/2026, https://www.srmt-nsn.gov/about

Interior of the Akwesasne Basket. Photo: Bryn Potter.

My basketry purse from Akwesasne / St. Regis  is circular with handles, about 9" x 2.5" in size and probably about 100 years old. It's formed of ash wood splints twined with braided sweetgrass. The splits were dyed, although there's no color to be seen on the exterior anymore. Open it, and the interior reveals some of the materials were dyed burgundy red and dark brown, colored with commercial dyes that have badly faded on the exterior. There are two braided sweetgrass handles that are stitched in place. The clasp is made of two splint rings, as is the simple and unfortunately broken hinge on the other side. This basket was purchased by me on EBay a dozen or so years ago. Who knew then that basketry purses could become the trendy accessory in 2026?

Basic Splint Basketry is a short book produced by the Akwesasne St. Regis Reserve, North American Indian Travelling College in 1986. It explains how to make baskets while following Mrs. Mary Adams as she creates one. It notes, at that time the book was written, Mrs. Adams had been a basket weaver for over 50 years. For more information, https://akwesasne.travel/our-stories/mohawk-and-akwesasne-basketmaking/