Monumental Basketry Urn

This beautifully made majestic basket was most certainly made in a workshop. The baluster form is based on either on ceramic urns, probably imported from China or the presence of the rings suggests that is was a metal urn being copied. It would in any case have been a prestigious item being copied with local materials by local craftsmen. It most likely only had a decorative function. We previously attributed this piece to Toraja, Sulewesi and we are grateful to Erik Farrow for correcting our mis-attribution and pointing us in the right direction.