Nantucket lightship purse basket

Maker S Gibbs

Date1966

Object number00029448

NameBasket

MediumRattan, wood, whale bone

DimensionsOverall: 180 x 277 x 185 mm, 0.6 kg

ClassificationsTools and equipment

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Jess Aland

Terms

DescriptionThis Nantucket lightship purse basket was made in Nantucket, Massachusetts in 1966. The basket, made of rattan, wood and whale bone, is inscribed with the name Laura Elizabeth Haywood Nantucket 1966.HistoryNantucket lightship baskets were originally made by the men stationed on the South Shoals Lightship, 42 miles southeast of Nantucket Island, during the first half of the nineteenth century. The baskets were woven over moulds made from discarded spars. Cooperage terms such as board bottoms, staves and hoops are used for the basket parts. The tradition was revived with the development of the Purse Basket which has a woven hinged cover, often with embellishments reminiscent of scrimshaw. Over time fashionable women carried the lightship baskets as handbags.SignificanceThis basket is an example of the ways in which whale bone was used in functional items during the mid 20th century.