What Is a Nantucket Basket? History of Lightship Baskets

Few objects say Nantucket quite like a Lightship basket. They’re carried down Main Street, displayed in homes, passed down through families–and increasingly reimagined in jewelry, fashion, and design.

But before the Nantucket basket became an island icon, it was something much more practical: a remarkably sturdy basket made in a very particular way.

To find its story, you have to leave Main Street, head out past the harbor, and step aboard a floating lighthouse.

So, What Is a Nantucket Basket?

A Nantucket basket, traditionally known as a Nantucket Lightship basket, is a distinctive style of basket that developed on Nantucket in the 19th century. Traditional Lightship baskets are woven on a mold, with rattan staves, cane weavers, and a solid wooden base.

That mold is important. Rather than being woven entirely free-form, the basket takes shape around a solid form, giving it the precision and structure that make a Nantucket basket so recognizable.

Why Is It Called a Lightship Basket?

There’s a popular story that Nantucket baskets originated aboard the whaling ships that sailed from the island. It’s a good story. It just isn’t quite accurate.

While some early Nantucket basketmakers were former whalers, there is no evidence that rattan basketmaking was widespread aboard Nantucket whaleships. The real maritime connection came later. Beginning in 1849, lightships were stationed around Nantucket’s dangerous shoals. Essentially floating lighthouses, these vessels remained offshore to warn passing ships of hazardous waters.

In the latter half of the 19th century, Nantucket basketmaker and former whaler Thomas S. James helped introduce basket weaving aboard the South Shoal Lightship. With long stretches of time at sea, members of the crew learned the craft—and became very good at it.

The baskets became so closely associated with these floating beacons that the name stuck: Nantucket Lightship baskets.

What Makes a Nantucket Basket a Nantucket Basket?

Look closely, and a traditional Lightship basket reveals its recipe. A solid wooden base, rattan staves, cane weavers, and a mold are key features that shape the basket. It’s a remarkably precise way of working, as the weaving gives it character.

As Nantucket shifted from a whaling economy toward tourism in the latter half of the 19th century, these practical carrying and storage baskets became something more: keepsakes of the island.

The craft moved ashore, and molds, tools, techniques, and knowledge passed from one basketmaker to another. Today, the Nantucket Lightship basket is recognized far beyond the island as a distinctive American form of basketry.

And Then Someone Put a Lid on It

If the Nantucket basket you’re picturing has a hinged lid, carved decoration, and a handle meant to tuck neatly over an arm, you’ve arrived at a later chapter in the story.

After World War II, José Formoso Reyes came to Nantucket and learned from established island basketmaker Mitchell “Mitchy” Ray. Reyes began experimenting with the traditional form, adding lids and decorative carvings and developing what became known as the Friendship basket purse. The sturdy open Lightship basket had become fashion.

Today, Nantucket basket, Lightship basket, Nantucket basket purse, and Friendship basket are sometimes used interchangeably. Historically, though, they don’t mean quite the same thing. We’ll untangle those terms in our next story.

Woven Into Our Story

For us at Whale Tail Weaving, this isn’t simply an interesting piece of design history. Our founder, Bridget Wiatrowski, grew up watching her mother weave baskets—with wooden molds on the kitchen counter, staves sticking upward, coils of cane, clamps, tools, and regular gatherings of the “Basket Ladies.”

Years later, Bridget learned to weave herself. Today, that tradition finds its way into our work in new forms—from handwoven bracelets and jewelry to leather goods inspired by the shape and spirit of the Lightship basket.

The goal isn’t to reproduce the past. It’s to understand it well enough to carry something meaningful forward. More than a century after sailors wove baskets aboard Nantucket’s lightships, the tradition is still evolving. One stave, one weaver, and one new idea at a time.

Heritage made modern.

Curious About Nantucket Baskets?

Q. What is a Nantucket basket?

A. A Nantucket basket is a distinctive molded basket form that developed on Nantucket in the 19th century. Traditional Nantucket Lightship baskets are woven on a mold using rattan staves and cane weavers with a solid wooden base.

Q. Why is it called a Lightship basket?

A. The baskets became closely associated with crews aboard lightships stationed near Nantucket, particularly the South Shoal Lightship, where sailors wove baskets during long periods at sea.

Q. Were Nantucket baskets made on whaling ships?

A. Despite the popular story, there is no evidence that rattan basketmaking was widespread aboard Nantucket whaleships. Some important early Nantucket basketmakers were, however, former whalers.

Q. What is the difference between a Lightship basket and a Friendship basket?

A. Historically, a Lightship basket refers to the molded basket tradition associated with Nantucket and its lightship crews. The Friendship basket generally refers to the later lidded purse form developed by José Formoso Reyes after World War II.

About the Author

Bridget Wiatrowski is the founder of Whale Tail Weaving, a design brand rooted in the tradition of Nantucket Lightship basket weaving. Raised by a basket weaver and later learning the craft herself, Bridget founded Whale Tail Weaving to explore how traditional weaving techniques and maritime heritage can be thoughtfully reimagined for modern life.