Nantucket Friendship Basket Purse and Biographical Booklet About the Maker

Description:

Nantucket Friendship Basket Purse and Biographical Booklet About the Maker, Jose Formoso Reyes, Nantucket, Massachusetts, dated 1962, oval woven cane purse with hinged lid centered with a carved ivory sperm whale mounted on an oval ebony plaque, ivory latch peg, braided leather handle, the base inscribed "MADE IN NANTUCKET JOSE FORMOSO REYES 1962," and an outline of the island, (latch broken),ht. 7 1/4, dia. 9 1/4 in.; together with a booklet entitled The Friendship Baskets and Their Maker Jose Formosa Reyes, by Paul F. Whitten, 1960.

Note: Jose Reyes (1902-1980) was the first Nantucket basketmaker to make a woman's purse, around 1948.
Estimate $1,500-2,500

The woven cane is in good condition, one end of the cane covered leather latch is broken, a little pinkish stains on the whale.

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