Antique José Formoso Reyes Nantucket Lightship Basket

Vintage oval open top Nantucket Lightship Basket made by José Formoso Reyes (1902-1980) circa 1950. Measures 6-3/4" by 5-1/2" oval by 4" high. Originally crafted by lonely keepers who tended the floating lightships that marked the shoal-lined waters around Nantucket starting in the 1890s, Nantucket Lightship Baskets are woven from rattan with cane staves, a solid wood base and swing handles. They often feature a close top adorned with scrimshawed fossilized wooly mammoth, but our selection of rare antique baskets represents a more rustic style, possessing a beautiful, darkened patina, swing handles and an open top. Two of our baskets are certified from the 1890s. Ours is a special open-topped oval basket from the 1950s made and signed by one of Nantucket’s most legendary lightship basket makers, the late José Formoso Reyes, who created only around 5,000 of his coveted pieces on-Island between 1947 and 1978.