Lovely Penobscot Sweet Grass and Ash Splint Small Basket with Marvelous Color horsehair clothes brush 1 1/8" across at opening

1 1/8" across at opening

I might guess this was made as a mourning piece

The shorter has a hairline crack on the underside of the base

and Truth links just above

and actually a fruit--in order to make chewing betel

Lovely Penobscot Sweet Grass and Ash Splint Small Basket with Marvelous Color horsehair clothes brush 1 1/8" across at openingAn especially lovely and finely crafted small Penobscot basket, with more color than one usually finds on these. I don't believe antique but it definitely has some age to it, with the color on the dyed, woven splint of the lid softened with age, more so than on the sides and in clear contrast to the underside of the lid. With finely braided sweet grass alternating with the splint to create wonderful patterning. I've looked at a whole lot of these