The Nantucket Charm Guide
How to tell a real Nantucket basket from a copy — the mold, the base, the plaque, and the makers worth paying for.
The Nantucket lightship basket began as a way to pass time on an anchored ship. It ended up the most collected object on the island.
In the 1850s, crews aboard the lightships moored off Nantucket's shoals spent long, dull watches weaving rattan over wooden molds. The baskets they made went home to the island, and the form stuck. A century later José Formoso Reyes added a lid and a swing handle, called it the Friendship Basket, and turned a fisherman's craft into the accessory you still see carried up Main Street on a Saturday morning.
A signed antique basket can bring several thousand dollars at auction. A well-made new one takes forty hours to weave. And a woven seagrass basket for the entry table costs less than dinner. All three belong in a Nantucket house — you just want to know which is which.
Anatomy of a Real One
The Mold
Every true lightship basket is woven over a solid wooden mold, which is why the walls are so rigid and the shape so exact. The mold comes out at the end; the basket holds its form on its own. A basket that flexes when you squeeze it was not made this way.
The Base
Look underneath. There should be a turned hardwood base with a groove cut around the edge, and the vertical rattan staves should sit down into that groove. Cheap imitations glue the weave to a flat disc. The groove is the tell.
The Plaque
On a basket purse, the lid carries a carved plaque — a sperm whale, a seagull, a whaling scene. Traditionally these were scrimshawed on whale ivory; modern makers carve bone, ebony or resin. A finely detailed plaque is a strong signal of a serious maker.
The Makers
José Formoso Reyes created the lidded 'Friendship Basket' in the 1940s. Names like Farnum, Barlow, Sayle and Bunker turn up on signed bases and drive real money at auction. If a vintage basket is signed and dated, photograph the base before you do anything else.
The Collector's Shelf
One-of-a-kind baskets we've found — signed bases, carved plaques, and swing handles worn smooth by decades of use.
Baskets
A vintage oval Nantucket lightship basket with a swing wood handle and ivory pegs — the true island heirloom I'd carry into town for market flowers or set on the entry bench brimming with fresh-cut blue hydrangeas.
Baskets
A rare vintage Barlow Nantucket lightship basket purse with a hand-etched scrimshaw whaling-ship medallion set into a walnut lid — the true island heirloom, the kind of piece you find once at a Sconset estate sale and pass down to a daughter.
Baskets
A large tall cube-shaped vintage Nantucket lightship basket with turned cherry-wood swing handles and ivory pegs — the true island heirloom I'd fill with fresh-cut blue hydrangeas on the entry console, or use as the prettiest possible magazine basket beside a slipcovered armchair.
Baskets
The real thing — a true Farnum Nantucket Lightship basket purse with a scrimshaw-style 'America' yacht plaque on the lid. The island heirloom that every other basket is trying to be.
Everyday Weaves
Seagrass, rattan and rope — the workhorse baskets that make a coastal house look collected instead of cluttered.
Baskets & Storage
A square of thick braided hyacinth that turns a drugstore tissue box into something you'd leave out — I keep one on the powder room counter and one on the guest room nightstand.
Baskets & Storage
Two gallons of chunky woven hyacinth with a softly flared rim — the little bin that makes a bathroom or a desk corner look finished instead of utilitarian.
Baskets & Storage
Handwoven rattan boxes with a scalloped lid edge and a woven bow on top — the prettiest way I know to hide remotes and hair ribbons, stacked two-high on a dresser.
Baskets & Storage
An open lattice of twisted seagrass rope with a soft cream cotton liner tied at the rim — throws and a folded quilt beside the sofa, towels beside the tub.
Baskets & Storage
A little cottage woven in rattan, roof, window and all, with a swing handle — I fill mine with garden flowers on the hall table and carry it out for berries in July.
Baskets & Storage
Collapsible waterproof canvas printed with white anchors and finished with tan leather handles — mine holds beach towels by the door all summer and blankets by the sofa all winter.
Baskets
A 6" round handwoven Nantucket lightship basket on a turned cherry-wood base with a hand-carved bone scallop-shell medallion at the center — the island heirloom I'd set on a marble console for keys and sea glass, or tuck onto a bookshelf beside a stack of Nantucket novels.
Baskets
An 8" handwoven Nantucket tote basket repurposed as a crossbody with a caramel leather strap and a hand-painted urn-and-flowers medallion — the bag I'd carry into town for the farmers' market and set on the hall table still full of hydrangeas.
Baskets
A hand-woven cane-on-cane oval with a turned cherry lid plaque, a bone peg closure and a brocade-lined interior — the evening basket you carry to a summer wedding at the yacht club and set on the table like a centerpiece.
Baskets
Handwoven rattan with a dark wood rim, a lift-off lid and two swinging handles — the sewing-basket shape that lives on a bench by the door holding gloves, dog leashes and whatever came in from the garden.
Baskets
The real Nantucket Bike Basket Co. lightship weave with leather handlebar straps and a brass maker's plaque, good for 13 pounds of beach towels and a baguette — the most Nantucket thing you can bolt to a bicycle.
Baskets
Hand-woven rattan in a warm honey finish with brass-buckled leather handlebar straps — the square-front Cisco Beach shape at 11.5" x 9.5", sized for a striped towel, a thermos and the morning paper.
Baskets
The rounded oval Cisco with a rolled rattan rim and leather straps that buckle straight to the handlebars — deep enough for farm-stand tomatoes and hydrangea stems on the ride home.
Baskets
A generous coiled cotton-rope basket with a soft chambray-blue band around the base — the one I'd park beside a slipcovered sofa, heaped with quilts and beach towels.
Baskets
Natural cotton rope coiled into a soft round basket finished with a sweet scalloped rim and double handles — the prettiest way I know to hide a pile of throws in a nursery or bunk room.
Baskets
Ivory fading into fog and driftwood gray — a big, sturdy rope basket that swallows blankets, pillows, or a mountain of children's toys and still looks intentional in the living room.
Baskets
Bread on the table, hydrangeas on the entry, citrus on the counter — the little basket that quietly does it all.
Baskets
Pure picnic-by-the-lighthouse energy — pack it with a baguette, cheese, and two cold beers and you have a plan.
Baskets
Hand-woven honey rattan with sturdy cut-out handles and a generous rectangular base — the everyday tray I'd use for breakfast in bed, an ottoman styled with hydrangeas and a candle, or carrying lemonade and glasses out to the garden.
Baskets
Honey-toned hand-woven wicker with smooth wooden dowel handles — the pretty catch-all I'd fill with rolled beach towels by the back door, magazines beside a slipcovered sofa, or extra throws at the foot of the guest bed.
Baskets & Storage
A tall two-tone rope hamper — ivory on top, soft grey on the bottom, with slim leather handles — the tidy laundry basket that looks like a piece of furniture in a coastal cottage bathroom or bedroom corner.
Baskets & Storage
A large handwoven natural rattan oval tray with sturdy loop handles and a herringbone weave — the collected, English-country piece I'd anchor a coffee table with, layered with a stoneware vase of lavender, a silver trinket box, and a leather-bound journal.
Baskets
A long willow trug with a tall bentwood handle — the French gathering basket for hydrangea stems in July and pinecones in November. Left on a console with tulips still lying in it, it's the prettiest thing in the entry.
Baskets & Storage
Chunky braided water hyacinth with cut-out handles and a sturdy iron frame — the honest, hardworking pair I'd line up on a laundry-room counter for detergent and linens, or on a bookshelf to hide the clutter nobody needs to see.
Baskets & Storage
The big, gray-washed rattan basket every Nantucket porch and living room needs — I use one as a hydrangea planter cachepot by the front door and another for rolled throws beside the sofa.
Baskets & Storage
A softly scalloped rim turns basic storage into something you actually want on the counter — I'd fill one with rolled hand towels in the powder room and the other with lemons or hydrangea clippings on the island.
Baskets & Storage
Long and low so they slide onto a bookshelf or pantry shelf without swallowing the space — I keep one for cookbooks, one for the remotes and reading glasses that live on the sofa table.
Baskets & Storage
A deep espresso-toned woven chest with a hinged lid and a washable cotton liner — big enough to swallow a winter's worth of blankets and handsome enough to sit right beside the sofa doing it.
Baskets & Storage
Three nesting resin-wicker cases with leather-look latches and carry handles — the closet-shelf trio I'd use for letters, linens, and all the small things a summer house accumulates, stacked and never apologized for.
Baskets & Storage
A handwoven hyacinth chest on locking casters with a divided interior under the lid — the piece that finally makes recycling look intentional. I'd roll it into the mudroom for sandy towels or park it in the laundry room sorting darks from linens.
Baskets & Storage
A softly scalloped, divided hyacinth caddy with a cut-out handle — the fix for the stack of shelter magazines sliding off the coffee table. I keep one beside a slipper chair with House Beautiful on one side and the newspaper on the other.
Baskets & Storage
A tiny handwoven rattan pot with a knobbed lid — the sweetest small-space fix for hair ties, jewelry, or matches beside a candle. I'd buy three and scatter them across a bathroom shelf and a bedside table.
Baskets & Storage
Hand-braided rush grass over a hardwood frame with a lift-off lid — the end-of-the-bed trunk that swallows every quilt in the guest room and still looks like it came off a Sconset porch.
Baskets & Storage
Chunky woven hyacinth on a steel frame with a safety-hinged lid and cut-in side handles — I'd set it under a hall window with a stack of coastal books on top and beach towels hidden inside.
Baskets & Storage
Woven poly-rattan over a metal frame with a washable cotton liner that lifts right out — the pretty hamper I'd keep at the foot of the bed for blankets, and fold flat in the off-season.
Baskets
A half-round rattan pocket with a bentwood handle that hangs flat on a wall or a door — fill it with garden roses and daisies in June and dried gypsophila in November. The cheapest way to make a bare hallway wall feel tended.
Baskets
Three woven baskets stacked on a scrolled rattan frame — rolled hand towels and soaps in a guest bath, or mail, sunglasses, and dog treats by the back door. Vertical storage in a house that has no floor space left.
The Designer's Rule
A 12-page Nantucket-inspired playbook — hydrangea-blue rooms, weathered cedar curb appeal, and the pieces I'd buy again tomorrow. Plus the weekly Sunday finds. Free, no spam.
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