Burmese Red Lacquer Flower Basket

This gorgeous Burmese basket is expertly woven of thin strips of split bamboo and colored by layers of black and red lacquer. With curvilinear form and a high, arched handle, the basket seems to be a variation of those traditionally used to carry flower offerings to Buddhist shrines. Intricately twisted & knotted, the basket has an unusually ornate form and may have been designed to meet Western tastes of the late 19th century.