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A Wire Egg Basket, Built by Somebody's Hands
Look at where the ribs cross the coils. Every one of those joints is a hand-twisted knot — no solder, no welds, just galvanized wire bent and tied by someone working through a stack of them. That's how these were made, and it's why no two are quite the same shape. This one has a generous round belly, a narrow gathered neck, a coiled wire handle worn smooth, and eight little wire feet so it never sat directly on a wet henhouse floor.
The form is the classic French egg-gathering basket, popular from the nineteenth century onward and beloved ever since for the obvious reason: it's beautiful, it holds a startling amount, and you can see straight through it to whatever's inside.
Where it belongs: this is one of the most useful decorative objects you can own, which is a rare thing to say. Fill it with lemons or clementines on a kitchen counter and it becomes a still life. Load it with onions and garlic heads by the stove. Drop a potted fern down into it. Stand it in a mudroom holding gloves and dog leashes, or by the hearth with kindling. Because it's open work, whatever you put in it becomes the decoration — which means it never looks the same two months running.
Size: 11" tall including the handle × 10" across at the widest point.
Condition: Structurally sound with no breaks in the wire. Rust and darkening to the joints and along the base, heaviest where the basket has rested on surfaces over the years, with the upper wires still bright. Please look closely at all photos; they're part of the description.
Handpicked because a thing made entirely by hand out of nothing but wire and patience deserves a second life. Carefully packed with love and sent on its way to you.
