Authentic Handbasket?

Do you have a picture of what an authentic handbasket looked like?

We do not have a picture of an "authentic handbasket", but perhaps a bit of research on the internet or an antique book might be of some help to you.

In the bigger sense of the word "handbasket", the history and form are probably as varied as there are people. Cultures varied and changed, economics played a role, and the practicality or ostentation of their owners would have dictated many forms of handbaskets.

My great-grandmother had an old handbasket that had been handed down to her by her mother, and now my grandmother owns it. It is woven of fine reed in a circular pattern, natural brown in color, varnished, and has a matching lid, in the same shape as the bottom, that lifts off. It is a small, round basket, about 12 inches across and is perhaps six inches high. She keeps her mending and embroidery notions in it. I have seen a number of variations of these baskets in antique stores.

Historically, these baskets could have been small, like my great-grandmother's, or as large as a market basket, depending on the project enjoyed by the mistress or maiden carrying it. At times, these would have been covered in velvet or brocade fabrics, embroidered or embellished with ribbon or lace. They could have been woven, wooden or made from metal. Simple folks would have perhaps only had one basket in the home which would have served as garden basket, market basket as well as handbasket for transporting handwork to a gathering. Ladies' hands were rarely idle.

Before mass-production, most items before the 20th century were handmade, one-by-one. So, there would have been a great variety of baskets created by countless craftsmen, from the simplest to the most ornate variety.

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