<p>Someone I know will be selling their parent’s home and she is in the process of cleaning it up. 4 or 5 baskets were tossed to the curb for garbage pick-up. They offered them to me because I was standing there when they were making their way to the trash. They offered them to me and I accepted. There is one basket that is pretty interesting to me, and I have no idea as to what it is used for. It is in the shape of a dome (perhaps some type of coiled basket), it does not have a flat bottom and it can wobble, it is not coiled, but rather made with stiches. I would say the diameter at he widest part is at least 20" (could be off on that, it is not in front of me), and is perhaps 4-5" deep at the deepest part. What might this have been used for? The basket seems seem to be quite old, but in good condition.</p>
<p>Well, I do love baskets (hence my name!) but it’s so hard to know without seeing it…handle or no handle? Is the basket reed quite thin or thicker? No markings on it?</p>
<p>abasket, I was about to crack up when I saw who answered my post! I should have guessed that you might know something about baskets.</p>
<p>There is no handle, and the reed (if you say that is the word, LOL) is quite thin which is why I described it as stitched, and probably a better word is weaved. I unfortunately did not note any markings, but I will look tomorrow (I can’t get to it this evening bc I have them in my shed).</p>
<p>Do a google search for “nantucket baskets” and look at images - do these resemble the type of weave on yours???</p>
<p>I just did a google search this morning and it seems that weave of mine is finer (thinner reeds) than what I looked at under the Nantucket baskets. I wonder what a round basket without handles that wobbles would be used for. The only other type of basket with this type of bottom that I saw was be a hanging plant basket. I know that my basket is not one for plants because it is too big in circumference and not deep enough. I wonder if it was some type of dome lid for another basket?</p>
<p>Maybe it was one of those baskets that a snake comes out of when you play your flute… :)</p>
<p>JK of course.</p>
<p>Is the reed flat or rounded?</p>
<p>Rounded rees, with a decorative boarder that has flat and darker reeds. You know what, if it were slightly deeper, it would be great to house one of those snakes.</p>
<p>I think I have a few similar baskets - don’t know the name, but mine seem quite old too - got mine at an estate sale or something so don’t know the history…</p>
<p>Baskets ARE cool - especially the older ones because chances are, they were created with a purpose in mind - we just don’t always know what it is!!!</p>
<p>abasket, just curious, are you doing anything with this basket, displaying it somehow, or is it sitting in an attic or basement? Mine is currently in my garage, until I figure out what to do with it. Thanks for helping me try to figure out what you would use it for.</p>
<p>I love Nantucket baskets…my sister makes them. I used to do scrimshaw, but not in 20 + yrs. She doesn’t make the tops, but if she ever does, maybe I’ll get out my old scribe and we can collaborate !!</p>
<p>Used for rising bread?</p>
<p>treetopleaf, good guess. I looked up some rising bread baskets and they seem to have much thicker reeds than mine and tend to be coiled. None of the ones I saw looked like mine. In the process I found some thin reed dome shaped basket inside another basket with handles and it seemed to be used at one time to hold tea. It was not exactly like mine, but I wonder if mine was made to go into another basket and perhaps used to hold and serve something? Perhaps it was a lid for something? Oh well. I think I have dwelled upon this trivia long enough, but I am still a bit curious about it.</p>
<p>I have a large sunporch that has a ledge/shelf that runs across 3 of the walls (at the top). I keep many of my baskets up there that don’t have a specific purpose, but when I need a basket I draw from this collection to find the basket that fits the need - whether it’s filling it with Halloween candy to pass out, placing muffins in it to take to someone, whatever.</p>
<p>One of my favorite basket ideas ever was the “homework basket” when my kids were younger. It was a basket with a handle that held all the different things they might need when doing homework: index cards, pencils, pens, pink pet erasers, scissors a small box of crayons, ruler, etc. When they sat down to do homework, they grabbed the “homework basket” and usually had all they needed in there so they didn’t have to keep getting up, get distracted or constantly ask me to “find a ruler” or whatever. </p>
<p>My kids also always loved my baskets at Easter time. Still, every year, the night before Easter they go around the house and choose a basket to be theirs. Sometimes it’s a huge one, sometimes a flat square one, sometimes a white one, sometimes one that is lined. Even though they are 11, 16 and almost 20 those baskets get hid every year and they know they’ve found theirs when they find their chosen basket that year!</p>
<p>I love baskets!</p>
<p>I found some baskets
[The</a> Pine Needle Group, Pine Needle Basket Links](<a href=“Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos”>Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos)</p>