Antique Chinese Rattan Market Basket | Mid-Century Southern China Folk Art Basket With Bundle Handles

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A mid-20th century hand-woven rattan basket from southern China — most likely Guangdong or Fujian province, where generations of craftsmen … Read more A mid-20th century hand-woven rattan basket from southern China — most likely Guangdong or Fujian province, where generations of craftsmen produced exactly this form for daily domestic use. The low, wide bowl shape with its pronounced rim was designed for washing rice, carrying produce, and moving goods through a household. It was never intended to be decorative. It became that on its own.

The construction is what separates a piece like this from anything being made today. The wooden rail rim is lashed to the basket body with rope, distributing stress from use across the entire structure rather than concentrating it at a single point. The handles are crafted in the regional bundle method: gathered rattan ends tied off in a deliberate knot cluster. The body weave is tight and even, darkened over decades of handling to a deep near-black espresso tone that no stain or finish could replicate.

At 20 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep it sits low and wide. A piece that is commanding on a dining table, a coffee table, or a console. Structurally sound. No damage. See less