NANTUCKET BASKET PURSE BY JOSE FORMOSO REYES
Nantucket, Massachusetts, Circa 1955
Oval, with characteristic "square style" swing handle. Carved sperm whale mounted to top of hinged lid. Signed on underside "Made in Nantucket Jose Formoso Reyes" around an image of Nantucket island.
Basket height 7.5". Width 9.5".
Notes:
Jose Formoso Reyes (1902-1980) is credited with having invented the purse form of the Nantucket basket, often referred to as "friendship baskets". He was born in the Philippines and attended high school and college in the United States, earning an M.Ed from Harvard. He returned to the Philippines with his wife in 1935 and joined the faculty of the military academy. In 1941, he joined the U.S. Army and was discharged a captain after World War II. He and his family moved back to the U.S. and settled on Nantucket, where his American wife's family had property. Because he was unable to find a teaching position, he worked as a house painter and repaired cane and rush seat chairs, applying weaving training he had learned in the Philippines. He eventually turned this skill toward Nantucket basket making after he befriended noted basketmaker Mitchell Ray. In 1948, Reyes developed the Nantucket basket purse.

Underside of base with wear typical of age and use. No damages noted.