Fancy Penobscot Sweetgrass and Ash Splint Basket with Curlicue Braiding blue and black This hand-thrown mushroom-shaped ikebana vase

This hand-thrown mushroom-shaped ikebana vase is one of my very favorite objects ever

thin leather case

The seasonal materials with which this basket was made are indigenous to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington

4" tall by 2" wide

I think they are such fine and beautiful objects

Fancy Penobscot Sweetgrass and Ash Splint Basket with Curlicue Braiding blue and black This hand-thrown mushroom-shaped ikebana vaseI am completely enchanted by this basket! Woven of sweetgrass and dyed ash splint, I am pretty certain it is Penobscot (Maine Native), likely c. 1920's 40's, and is definitely one of the finest I have seen. The lid features a striking interplay of thin splint strips and braided sweetgrass woven over thicker orange splints, but it is the sides that really make this basket, with these fantastic thick curling grass braids secured with splint loops