Chinese Rattan Woven Basket

Shallow bowl of amber and brown weave with a neat diagonal band.

This woven rattan basket is from China, and dates to the 20th century. Rattan is the flexible stem of a climbing palm, and across Asia it is split into strips and woven into baskets, furniture and containers. On view, a wide bowl with sloping sides in a lighter reddish brown weave, a belt of slanting strokes below the rim, and a rim wrapped in pale strips. A red base ring supports it. Light shows through the open weave inside. It is 8 inches high and 14 in diameter.

Low, broad and a very good shade of rust.