Nantucket Purse by Jose Formoso Reyes, circa 1960s
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Nantucket Purse by Jose Formoso Reyes, circa 1960s
$6,400.00
Nantucket Purse by Jose Formoso Reyes, circa 1960s, a fine vintage Nantucket purse with cane weave on rattan staves, a carved swing handle fastened by copper rivets to the rim, the cherry top plate mounted with carved whale tooth ducks alighting and swimming in a marsh, and a carved whale bone peg for closure; signed on the bottom Made In Nantucket, Jose Formoso Reyes with image of island.
In stock
Nantucket Purse by Jose Formoso Reyes, circa 1960s, a fine vintage Nantucket purse with cane weave on rattan staves, a carved swing handle fastened by copper rivets to the rim, the cherry top plate mounted with carved whale tooth ducks alighting and swimming in a marsh, and a carved whale bone peg for closure; signed on the bottom Made In Nantucket, Jose Formoso Reyes with image of island.
The basket remains in fantastic condition, and lightly used to give it a perfect warm honey patina. The choice of scrimshaw on the lid is unique: I have never seen another like it.
Jose Reyes (1902 – 1980) was born in the Philippines and moved to Nantucket immediately following World War II in 1947. He met Mitchy Ray, the last person on island still making Nantucket baskets at that time, and learned the craft. Within a few years Jose adapted the traditional Lightship basket form to a purse by adding a lid and a swing handle, launching the modern era in the Nantucket basket saga. Reyes remains highly revered and collected as a great innovator and the inventor of the Nantucket Purse.
Measures: 7 in H x 9 in L x 7 in W
