This small basket is woven--braided--entirely of hair. Whether human or horse I am not entirely certain; i might guess the latter, but the hair is more soft than coarse, and fairly fine. I purchased it in Nashville from an Ohio-based dealer, and know it came from a large collection of baskets from an estate there. I have found a few examples of Native American baskets woven of horse hair (Tohono O'odham and Koasati ((Couchatta)) examples specifically) but the braided construction of this one is of a different sort, and it feels more folky to me. In any case, something pleasingly uncanny about a basket woven from hair, and it also feels like an especially apt vessel for storing other tiny treasures (i.e. baby teeth, butterfly wings, victorian hair locks, etc!)
2 9/16" d x 3" t. Good condition. Some slumping to the handle as pictured, and general light wear. I used a q-tip to do some light dusting to the interior where some had accumulated.
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