Lovely Penobscot Sweet Grass and Ash Splint Small Basket with Marvelous Color horsehair clothes brush I might guess this was

I might guess this was made as a mourning piece

and actually a fruit--in order to make chewing betel

especially the stacked soles (many layers of hide I believe) making them feel super sculptural--and also as if having very much absorbed the life of their onetime wearer

The shorter has a hairline crack on the underside of the base

10 1/2" X 14"

Lovely Penobscot Sweet Grass and Ash Splint Small Basket with Marvelous Color horsehair clothes brush I might guess this wasAn especially lovely and finely crafted small Penobscot basket, with more color than one usually finds on these. I don't believe antique but it definitely has some age to it, with the color on the dyed, woven splint of the lid softened with age, more so than on the sides and in clear contrast to the underside of the lid. With finely braided sweet grass alternating with the splint to create wonderful patterning. I've looked at a whole lot of these