Vintage Large Nantucket Basket, by Mitchy Ray, circa 1920s

Vintage Large Nantucket Basket, by Mitchy Ray (1877 – 1956), circa 1920s, a large open round basket with heavy wooden staves, cane weave, solid oak bottom plate with two inscribed rings, and a carved swing handle attached to fairly long metal ears. The basket is unsigned but clearly by Mitchy Ray.

This very old basket remains in excellent condition with only one weave at the bottom where the cane has lifted in two adjacent spots. The craftsmanship is among Mitchy’s finest work: the staves are strong and uniform, the weave even, and the handle more delicately carved and shaped than often seen. The basket has developed a deep, dark patina.

Measures: 7 in High x 12-1/8 in Diameter

Clinton Mitchell “Mitchy” Ray was an extremely important bridge in the preservation of the Nantucket basket tradition. He learned how to make Nantucket lightship baskets as a young boy with his grandfather Charles B. Ray, a highly regarded mariner and prolific basket weaver. Unlike his father Charles F. Ray and grandfather, Mitchy never went to sea. He is remembered as an Island character with a reputation of being wild in his younger years. He at one point saved a man from drowning at Surfside and earned a medal for his deed.

Mitchy worked various jobs and eventually became a full time basket maker, opening a small shop on Starbuck Court. He used the molds given to him by his father Charles F. Ray, and made utility or work baskets in various sizes, starting with the tiny “one egger” that he sold hundreds of (for around $1.50 each).

Mitchy’s early baskets were well constructed and adorned with a simple paper label; later he began adding the tag line “I was made in Nantucket, I’m strong and stout. Don’t lose me or burn me and I’ll never wear out. Made by Mitchy Ray.” As time went on and Mitchy aged, his very popular baskets were selling so fast that the quality declined.

Although Mitchy had never served aboard one of the lightships, he became the last craftsman making these baskets on Nantucket. When Jose Reyes arrived on-island after World War II, it was Mitchy who taught him how to make a Nantucket basket, saving the tradition and ensuring its continued evolution to this day.
(Biography adapted from The Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum).