Tutsi Agaseki or Ibeseke Basket

A tall, pointed lid gives this basket the posture of a very small tower.

This Agaseki or Ibeseke basket is Tutsi, from Rwanda, East Africa, and dates to the 20th century. It is woven plant fiber. Tutsi baskets of this kind are generally coiled in tight spirals, with dark geometric patterns worked into the pale fiber. This one has a tapered body, and a conical lid rises to a long, curling tip. Dark triangles and stepped bands circle the lower body against a warm orange brown, and the coiling is very fine. It is 6.5 inches high and 2.5 in diameter.

Small, tidy, and slightly pointed about it.