French Gathering Basket

Where the handle meets the rim, the maker wove a tight little diamond, the knot that locks the whole basket together and the spot a basketmaker showed off. Found in Le Perche, it is handwoven from willow, an oval basket ribbed out from that diamond to the rim, a bentwood handle arching over the middle. The ribbed shape is one of the oldest ways to build a basket, the ribs sprung from the frame and filled in by hand so no two turn out the same. Sylvie fills it with cut flowers on a kitchen table, or stands it on a shelf empty, woven well enough to hold its own.