Antique French Wire Basket with Wooden Handle from Chanteduc

An antique French wire basket from the courtyard at Chanteduc, part of Patricia Wells’s personal collection. Hand formed in a diamond mesh and shaped like a shallow boat, it has twin swing handles linked by a smooth wooden grip. Patricia explains, “I love these and have collected them over the years. Many were originally made for drying salad, and I found them all at brocantes.” She adds, “I fill them with rocks collected in the mountains, choosing lovely flat ones so I can write each guest’s name on them as place cards.” Light in the hand yet sturdy, its generous low profile settles easily on a table or windowsill. The provenance is personal and practical, sourced by Patricia at French flea markets and used at Chanteduc for entertaining and display, a quiet reflection of her intelligent simplicity and generous hospitality. Style it as she does, heaped with flat stones inscribed for guests, or let it gather garden herbs, napkins and cutlery, or the day’s market fruit. In a kitchen, pantry, or terrace, this humble tool becomes a companionable accent that ties home and table to life between Paris and Provence.