Chinese Hand Warmer / Basket with Handle

Squat woven basket flares at the shoulder like a skirt in mid-twirl.

This rattan hand warmer basket with terra cotta liner from Shanxi Province is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the late 19th century. The clay liner holds the hot embers and the woven cover keeps the heat away from the skin, while a handle allows the piece to be carried. Wide, low basket with a tightly woven body in reddish brown strips and a broad herringbone-plaited shoulder rolling inward to a round opening. The inside is smooth and plain. The finish is glossy with age. It is 5 inches high and 7.25 in diameter.

Neat weaving, hardly a strand out of place.