Antique French Wire Basket - For Onions

This antique French wire basket hangs in the doorway between the iconic ocher kitchen and the pantry at Chanteduc, Patricia and Walter's farmhouse in Vaison-la-Romaine — suspended from a small decorative iron hook set into the old wooden beam overhead, and has been used to hold fresh onions for decades. Hand-formed from fine twisted wire, the body is shaped into a generous rounded globe that widens at the belly and narrows toward a flat-topped rim. The wire is worked in a close, even grid, with slightly heavier gauge used for the structural ribs and the arched carrying handle, neatly wrapped at each attachment point with coiled wire. The overall tone is a soft, darkened iron-grey, the surface carrying a matte patina that speaks to decades of kitchen air, handling and use. Small looped feet at the base allow it to stand when needed. Hung in a doorway, a window recess or from a kitchen beam, it works just as well today for garlic, shallots, citrus or eggs.