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  • - Large 19th century French wicker basket for period set dressing
  • 19th century French grape harvesting picking donkey buttocks basket
  • 19th century French grape harvesting donkey buttocks basket
  • 19th century French grape vineyard buttocks basket
  • Large antique French vineyard grape harvest basket from Bordeaux
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BASKETS & STORAGE

Large 19th Century French Grape Picking Donkey Buttocks Basket

Large 19th Century French Grape Picking Donkey Buttocks Basket

£450.00
£450.00
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One of the best finds from our recent buying trip through Charente, this exceptional 19th-century French grape picking basket was sourced near Bordeaux. Known as a buttocks basket because of its distinctive double-sided shape, it was designed to sit across the back of a donkey during the grape harvest, allowing the load to be carried on either side of the animal. Measuring an impressive 110cm long, the basket survives in amazing condition for its age, with its woven construction, central streamed branch handle and unusual sculptural form still intact. A rare piece of French vineyard history and a brilliant decorative object in its own right, particularly hung from a ceiling, placed above a large cupboard or tucked beneath a kitchen island. Its scale and instantly recognisable period construction also make it an excellent original prop for film, theatre, or period set dressing. Some old historic worm holes and a few splits

H:45cm L:110cm :W45cm

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More About This Piece

These large double-sided baskets were made as working agricultural pieces, their distinctive shape allowing them to be carried across a donkey during the grape harvest. This example was found close to Bordeaux, one of France's best-known wine-growing regions, and at 110cm long it has real presence. Surviving examples in this condition are not something we come across often. Beyond an interiors setting, it's exactly the sort of original object that works for prop houses, production designers and set decorators looking for genuine French agricultural or vineyard pieces rather than modern reproductions. It would work particularly well for period dramas, French farmhouse interiors, vineyard scenes, wine-related productions, restaurant shoots and editorial photography.

Condition

Amazing condition for a 19th-century working basket of this size. There are signs of historic woodworm which are no longer active, together with a few splits, areas of wear and natural movement within the woven material. These are consistent with its age and original agricultural use. The overall structure remains remarkably well preserved. Please refer closely to the photographs for condition.

Why We Love It

This was the find of the trip. At 110cm long it's huge, but it's the shape that really gets us – once you know why those two sides are there, the whole piece makes sense. We love it above a cupboard or suspended from a ceiling where you can really see its construction, and as an original 19th-century French vineyard prop it's difficult to beat.

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