26 Vintage Baskets Sellers Move Quickly Online

Most baskets in a thrift aisle are worth roughly what the sticker says. A narrow slice of them carry a maker’s mark, a regional weave, or a form tied to a specific trade, and those tend to sell within a day or two of listing.

The difference is almost always identification. A seller who photographs the base, the rim lashing, and the point where the handle enters the body gives buyers something to bid on. A single blurry overhead shot gives them nothing.

Nantucket Lightship Baskets Woven Over Wooden Molds

These are built on a turned wooden mold, with rattan cane woven over oak or hickory staves that seat into a grooved wooden base. The form traces to crews aboard the South Shoal lightship off Nantucket in the middle 1800s, who had long idle stretches and good rattan supply.

Buyers look for a tight rim lashing, no cracked staves, and a base that has not separated from the sides. Condition drives everything here: a worn, unsigned open basket around eight inches across generally brings $150 to $400, while a clean signed example with original brass ears and a swing handle runs $600 to $2,500 and sometimes well past that.

Nantucket Friendship Purses With Signed Plaques

Jose Formoso Reyes, a Philippine-born teacher who settled on Nantucket after 1945, adapted the lightship form into a lidded handbag in the late 1940s. His purses carry a small plaque on the lid, and many older examples use ivory and ebony, which matters because federal and state rules on ivory sales restrict how those can be shipped and listed.

Sellers should photograph the plaque, the lid hinge, and the interior lining. A later unsigned lidded purse in sound shape typically moves at $400 to $1,200.

A Reyes-marked purse with an uncracked lid and tight weave commonly reaches $1,500 to $5,000.

Shaker Black Ash Splint Baskets From Mount Lebanon

Shaker communities, especially Mount Lebanon in New York, pounded black ash logs along the growth rings to release long, even splints, then wove them over molds for consistent sizing. The cat head form, named for the profile of its rounded base, is the one collectors chase.

Tells include uniform splint width, a finely shaved rim, and copper tacks rather than iron. Genuine documented Shaker work in good structural condition trades at $800 to $4,000, with damaged or heavily refinished pieces falling far below that.

Later Shaker-style reproductions woven by contemporary craftspeople are honest and attractive but sit at $75 to $250.

Appalachian White Oak Egg Baskets

“Fresh eggs from the hens in the yard” by Clemson, source: Flickr, licensed under Cc by 2.0

Split from riven white oak rather than sawn stock, these ribbed baskets have splints that follow the grain and resist snapping. The lashing where the handle meets the rim is usually worked into a wrapped diamond pattern that weavers call a God’s eye, and a clean, symmetrical one signals a practiced hand.

Check the ribs for breaks and the handle for a repaired splice, since both cut value sharply. Ordinary examples with some splint loss sell at $45 to $120.

Tight, early, well-patinated baskets with intact ribs and no repairs commonly bring $150 to $500.

Buttocks Baskets With Twin Lobes

The twin-lobe form, also called a fanny or gizzard basket, was designed so the divided base would sit across a saddle or a hip without tipping. The deeper the two lobes and the more ribs packed between them, the more work the weaver put in, and buyers price accordingly.

Look for even lobes, since a lopsided one usually means ribs shifted during weaving. Dry, cracked splints and a loose rim knock a basket down to $40 to $90.

Well-formed antique examples in oak or hickory with a warm surface generally sell at $120 to $400.

Ribbed Melon Baskets

A melon basket shares the ribbed construction of the egg basket but has a rounder, single-well body and a handle that forms a full arch across the middle. Rib count is the quickest quality tell: a basket with twenty or more closely spaced ribs took far longer to weave than one with eight.

Sellers should shoot straight down into the well so the rib spacing reads clearly. Loose weave, mildew staining, or a split handle put these at $30 to $70.

Dense-ribbed antique examples with an even honey surface move at $90 to $300.

Longaberger Baskets With Dated and Signed Bottoms

Founded in Dresden, Ohio in 1973 by Dave Longaberger, the company wove hard maple splints and had each weaver initial and date the base, which makes these unusually easy to attribute. Production wound down and the operation closed in 2018, so the supply is now fixed.

Most common sizes are abundant and sell at $8 to $30 even in excellent shape. Scarcer early 1980s pieces, Collectors Club editions, and baskets retaining their original fabric liner, protector, and wooden lid can reach $75 to $400.

Water staining, a warped base, or a missing liner cuts the figure by more than half.

Gullah Sweetgrass Coiled Baskets From the Carolina Lowcountry

Coiled rather than woven, these are built by Gullah Geechee makers around Mount Pleasant, South Carolina from sweetgrass and bulrush, often with longleaf pine needles for contrast, bound with strips of palmetto and worked with a bone or spoon handle. The flat fanner tray used for winnowing rice is the oldest documented form.

Condition questions center on brittleness and coil separation, since dried-out grass snaps. Small nesting bowls run $75 to $600.

Large lidded or elaborately ringed pieces by known makers reach $800 to $5,000 when the coils are tight and unbroken.

Tohono O’odham and Pima Coiled Desert Baskets

Southern Arizona coiled work typically uses a bear grass foundation stitched with bleached yucca, with black design elements taken from devil’s claw pods. Pima, now more often called Akimel O’odham, work leans on willow and cattail.

Tribal attribution is genuinely difficult and should be confirmed by a specialist rather than asserted from a photograph, and misattributed listings get pulled. Sellers do better describing materials and construction than guessing a tribe.

Small modern trays in sound condition sell at $60 to $200. Older, finely stitched pieces with tight coils and no rodent damage bring $400 to $2,500.

Hopi Wicker Plaques From Third Mesa

Wicker plaques are a Third Mesa specialty, made in villages including Hotevilla, Bacavi, and Old Oraibi from rabbitbrush and sumac shoots dyed in strong reds, yellows, and greens and woven over a radiating frame. Second Mesa produces coiled plaques instead, using galleta grass bundles wrapped in yucca, so the construction itself points to the village.

Faded dye, a warped disk, or loose rim binding lowers the price considerably. A small wicker plaque under ten inches in strong color generally sells at $150 to $600.

Large plaques with crisp design and original color often reach $1,000 to $3,000.

Burden Baskets With Tin Cone Danglers

Twined burden baskets of the Western Apache tradition are conical, built on sturdy sumac or willow rods, and hung with buckskin fringe tipped in rolled tin cones that chime when the basket moves. Most examples offered online are souvenir scale, under twelve inches, and should be described that way.

Missing cones, dried and cracking buckskin, and a crushed cone shape are the usual defects. Souvenir-size pieces in decent shape run $80 to $350.

Full-size older baskets with intact fringe, complete danglers, and no rod breaks routinely sell at $600 to $3,000.

Japanese Bamboo Ikebana Flower Baskets

“Japanese Basket” by Kevin Prichard, source: Flickr, licensed under CC by -SA 2.0

A hanakago is a bamboo flower basket made for ikebana, usually fitted with a removable metal or lacquer water liner called an otoshi. Value hinges on two things buyers ask about immediately: whether the liner survives, and whether the piece retains its signed wooden storage box, the tomobako.

Documented makers such as Iizuka Rokansai and Maeda Chikubosai carry serious premiums, but attribution without the box is risky. Unsigned decorative baskets with splits or a missing liner sell at $80 to $300.

Signed work with an original inscribed box and intact liner commonly brings $500 to $5,000.

French Market Baskets in Palm Leaf

The flat-bottomed shopping basket associated with French markets is mostly woven in Morocco and Tunisia from dried palm leaf, then finished with stitched leather handles. Age shows in the handles first, where the stitching pulls and the leather dries and cracks.

Buyers want to see the interior base photographed, since that is where the weave collapses under years of heavy loads. Newer imports in clean condition sell at $25 to $90.

Older examples with thick, well-worn leather handles and a softened, darkened weave that has not gone brittle move at $60 to $180.

Ghanaian Bolga Baskets in Elephant Grass

Woven in and around Bolgatanga in northern Ghana, these use a local straw often sold as elephant grass, twisted into cords and then worked while damp so the weave tightens as it dries. Handles are typically wrapped in goat leather, and that wrapping is the first thing to fail.

Dye fading from sunlight and a flattened, out-of-round body are the two condition issues that matter. Standard shoppers in good shape sell at $30 to $120.

Large U-shaped market baskets and tightly woven pot styles with unfaded color and sound leather reach $90 to $220.

English Fitted Picnic Hampers

Brexton of England built fitted wicker picnic sets through the 1950s and 1960s, and Coracle produced comparable British cases, both with fitted trays, plates, flasks, and leather straps. Completeness decides the price.

Buyers want a photograph of the open lid with every fitting visible, plus a close shot of the strap buckles and the flask interior. A hamper missing plates, cups, or its flask, with dried straps, sells at $40 to $90.

A complete set for four or six with unbroken melamine, a working flask, and supple straps brings $120 to $450.

Wine and Bottle Carriers

Woven bottle carriers, including French wire-reinforced wicker frames and six-bottle divided shoppers, were working cellar and market equipment rather than decor, so they turn up with genuine wear. The dividers are the weak point, and a carrier with two or more collapsed compartments becomes a decorative piece.

Photograph the interior from above so the divider walls read clearly, and note any rust on wire frames. Common carriers with sagging dividers sell at $20 to $60.

Sturdy older French examples with intact wire structure and a usable handle move at $60 to $150.

Wicker Fishing Creels With Maker Stamps

Split-willow creels with leather harness hardware are a reliable category, and marked examples separate fast from unmarked ones. The George Lawrence Company of Portland, Oregon, better known as saddlemakers, stamped its leather work, and that stamp can multiply the price.

Buyers check the lid slot, the shoulder strap, and the weave near the hinge, which is where dry willow snaps first and where amateur repairs tend to show. Plain unmarked creels with a replaced strap sell at $60 to $250.

Lawrence-stamped creels with original harness leather, intact stitching, and a sound weave typically reach $300 to $900.

Lloyd Loom Laundry Hampers

Marshall B. Lloyd patented a process in 1917 that twisted kraft paper around steel wire and wove it on a loom, producing panels that were then fitted to bent frames, and W. Lusty and Sons manufactured the results in England under license. The look is basket-like but the material is paper, which changes the condition math entirely.

Water damage causes the paper to unravel and the interior wire to rust. Repainted or scuffed hampers with frame corrosion sell at $45 to $110. Clean examples with original factory finish, an unbroken lid, and no rust bring $120 to $300.

Open-Weave Cheese and Herb Drying Baskets

Cheese baskets use a wide hexagonal weave that lets whey drain while curds stay above, and the same open structure appears in flat herb drying trays. The hexagonal pattern is instantly recognizable in a photograph and is the single detail that separates these from ordinary flats.

Check the rim wrap and count broken splints, since the open weave makes each break structurally significant. Reproductions and recent decorative versions sell at $40 to $100.

Antique examples with a soft gray surface, an intact rim, and few breaks generally bring $80 to $400.

Bicycle Baskets With Original Mounting Straps

Front bicycle baskets divide into woven willow versions with leather straps and pressed steel versions, the latter long made by Wald of Maysville, Kentucky, whose products carry a stamped mark. Straps and brackets are usually missing, and their presence changes the listing entirely because buyers want something they can actually mount.

Photograph the mounting face and any stamped lettering. Loose wicker baskets with no hardware sell at $20 to $50.

Complete willow baskets with original leather straps, or marked vintage steel baskets with brackets and no heavy rust, move at $50 to $120.

Doll Carriers and Cradle Baskets

Small oval carriers built for infants, often sold as Moses baskets, and the miniature wicker cradles made for dolls both trade steadily, though for different buyers. Photographers and prop stylists take the larger ones, while doll collectors want the scaled versions with original hood frames.

Dry, cracking wicker on the handles and a sagging base are the standard problems. Plain examples with weave loss sell at $35 to $80.

Antique doll cradles on turned rockers, or full-size carriers with an original padded liner in clean condition, bring $90 to $250.

Lidded Sewing Baskets With Applied Decoration

Chinese export sewing baskets of the 1920s and 1930s are the recognizable ones: lidded, hung with glass beads and Peking glass rings, faced with coins, and lined in silk over a fitted tray. American lidded sweetgrass workbaskets fill the same shelf at lower prices.

Condition turns on the silk, which shatters with age, and on the dangling ornaments, which go missing one at a time. Baskets with torn lining and half the beads gone sell at $30 to $70.

Complete examples with intact silk, full beadwork, and the original tray reach $150 to $400.

Hanging Wall Pockets

Flat-backed half-round baskets made to hang against a wall were built for mail, kindling, or drying herbs, and the flat back is the defining structural feature rather than a decorative one. The hanging loop or iron hook on the back is frequently gone, and buyers ask about it because these are bought to be hung.

Photograph the back panel squarely. Machine-woven imports and damaged examples sell at $20 to $45. Older handmade wall pockets in oak or willow with an original hanger and a sound back panel bring $55 to $160.

Berry Tills and Stave Produce Crates

Thin wooden quart and pint berry boxes, along with stave-built produce crates fitted with wire bail handles, survive in quantity because farms bought them by the thousand. What lifts one above the pile is printed graphics: a legible grower stamp, a lithographed fruit label, or a dated shipping mark.

Warping and mold staining are common and reduce interest quickly, since most buyers want these for open shelving rather than storage. Blank, stained, or split examples sell at $8 to $25.

Crates and tills with crisp printed labels, intact staves, and sound bail handles typically move at $40 to $150.

Winnowing Trays and Grain Fans

Flat or shallow-lipped round trays were used to toss threshed grain so chaff blew clear, and they appear in South Asian, European, and African traditions with different rim treatments. Buyers mostly hang them, so the front face and rim have to photograph well, and warping that lifts the tray off a wall is a real objection.

Large diameter helps: anything past twenty-four inches draws more attention. Small or split trays with loose rims sell at $30 to $75.

Large antique fans with tight weave, an intact bound rim, and an even surface bring $90 to $280.

Banneton and Brotform Bread-Rising Baskets

Coiled rattan bannetons leave the concentric ring pattern that bakers want on a proofed loaf, while German brotforms are pressed from wood pulp rather than woven and behave differently in use. Both are bought to be used, so buyers care about smell and residue more than looks, and a basket with mildew odor is effectively unsellable.

Photograph the interior coil spacing and mention whether a linen liner is included. Stained or odorous examples sell at $12 to $30. Clean vintage European rattan forms with crisp coils and an original liner move at $40 to $120.

The Mark Under the Base

Almost every category above rewards the same small effort. Turn the basket over, clean the base gently, and photograph whatever is there: a weaver’s initials, a date, a stamped leather patch, a turned wooden plate, a paper label gone brown at the edges.

That one image is what separates a listing that sells in a day from one that sits for a month at the same asking price.

The rest is honesty about condition. Broken ribs, dried leather, mildew smell, and separated coils are not flaws a buyer forgives after delivery, and describing them plainly costs less than a return.

Baskets were working objects, and the market accepts wear readily. What it does not accept is a surprise.

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