Mid 20th Century Heisey Lariat Crystal Basket

Details

Description

Quick Hits
Brand: A.H. Heisey & Company
Pattern: Lariat, No. 1540
Style: Mid-Century, elegant crystal tableware
Materials: Clear crystal glass
… Read more Quick Hits
Brand: A.H. Heisey & Company
Pattern: Lariat, No. 1540
Style: Mid-Century, elegant crystal tableware
Materials: Clear crystal glass
Form: Handled basket
Period: Produced 1942–1957
Origin: Made in the USA, Newark, Ohio
Why We Love It: Lariat is one of Heisey's best-loved patterns from its final era, and a basket form is a less common way to find it.

More About This Item
Clear crystal can hold flowers, fruit, or a handful of candy, and it still catches the light on a bare shelf. This Heisey Lariat basket is the kind of piece that does all of those things. Its handled basket form gives it a graceful silhouette, and the Lariat pattern's rhythm of loops adds a quiet sparkle without overpowering the piece.

Heisey introduced Lariat in 1942 and kept it in production until the factory closed in 1957. That window places the piece squarely in the American mid-century era, when crystal tableware was a staple of wedding registries and holiday tables. A basket like this would have served as a centerpiece, a bonbon dish, or a small vase for cut flowers.

It works as well today as it did then. Fill it with fresh flowers, use it for dinner rolls or fruit, or set it empty on a sideboard as a piece of vintage Americana.

Dimensions
Full dimensions are noted below. Base is 3" in diameter, and height without handle is roughly 6".

Design Style
Lariat is a mid-century pattern, a cleaner and more restrained design than the heavily cut glass of earlier decades. The pattern is built on a repeating loop motif. A story long associated with the pattern says its designer was inspired by the loops of a watch chain, which the name "Lariat" echoes. The pattern was also Heisey's answer to the popularity of a competitor's Candlewick line, and the two share a similar bead-and-loop look.

The result suits a range of rooms. It looks natural in a traditional dining room and sits comfortably in transitional or mid-century interiors. Because it is clear glass, it works with almost any color scheme.

Brand Legacy
A.H. Heisey & Company produced fine glassware in Newark, Ohio, from 1896 to 1957, and its pieces are among the most collected in American glass. Lariat arrived during the war years of the 1940s, when the company leaned toward simpler pressed crystal patterns, and it became one of Heisey's major pattern lines before the company closed. Today, collectors prize Heisey glass for its clarity and for the range of forms the company produced, baskets among them. See less