French Wicker Shopping Basket with Handle Vintage Rattan Market 03112611

French Wicker Shopping Basket

A classic French wicker shopping basket of the kind once carried daily to the marche -- the neighborhood market -- by generations of French home cooks. Woven from slender rattan reeds over a sturdy upright framework, the basket holds an oval form that widens generously toward the top, with a single arched handle hand-wrapped and bound at each foot with tight coiled rattan. This style of panier a provisions, the French everyday market basket, was a fixture of provincial French domestic life well into the late twentieth century, valued for its lightness and practicality.

The weave is even and well-executed, the rattan a warm chestnut brown that speaks to honest use over the years. The arched handle is made from several reeds twisted together for strength, a detail of handmade construction clearly visible in the photos. Today the basket works equally well holding fresh produce in a farmhouse kitchen, blankets in a living room, or magazines beside a reading chair -- the kind of versatile, quietly handsome object that looks right in almost any room.

Condition and patina consistent with age. Light wear at the rim and handle base, with a few small cut reed ends visible at the inner edge -- all normal character for a working basket of this period.

Approx. 16.9 in wide x 10.6 in deep x 13.4 in tall (43 x 27 x 34 cm).

95% of my items are tariff-free to the US.

Do you like this item? Then visit the All products collection to see more items!