HISTORY OF BASKET HANDBAG
HISTORY OF BASKET HANDBAG
COMELY HANDBAG FACTORY
They originate from more than 150 years ago, when ships returned to Nantucket, Massachusetts, carrying rattan, a long vine-like plant from which the outer bark would be stripped off and used for basketry.
Increased leisure and more money equaled excursions abroad and holidays by the sea, all of which required special versions of the handbag.
The baskets have a tightly woven straw body and a wooden lid often decorated with a carved ivory plaque. These carvings usually depict natutical subjects, such as seashells, lighthouses and whales.
Shore-side, cheap and cheerful prevailed, with washable embossed plastic replicating straw and linen, and painted wickerwork with plastic handles.
Crocheted raffia embroidered with seashells and silk flowers proliferated, being by Caron of Texas. Basket bags, the forerunner of the plastic throwaway supermarket bag, became highly decorative.
In 1856, the first lightship was commissioned to warn ships of the dangerous waters surrounding Nantucket, and many sailor took basket-making materials to alleviate the boredom of being on watch, so the Lightship basket was born.
They could be made of straw, wicker, rush or raffia, and personalized with collages of fruit or flowers. The Nantucket Lightship basket and purse are the most valuable and sought-after of all vintage baskets.
In 1948, Jose Formosa Reyes, originally from the Philippines, introduced the use of a woven lid design on top of the basket.