Tutsi Agaseki or Ibeseke Basket

A pointed lid like a witch's hat sits on a bowl woven so tightly it looks drawn.

This agaseki or ibeseke basket is Tutsi, from Rwanda, East Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is woven plant fiber. In Rwanda, lidded baskets of this kind are traditionally made by women from coiled grasses and fibers, with geometric patterns worked in dark thread. Here the tall conical lid rises to a curved tip, with zigzag bands in brown and black. The rounded body below carries rows of small checks, and the weave is fine and even. It is 10 inches high and 5 in diameter.

A lid with ambitions and a body with manners.