Strange Basket

[Chessa]

My Grandmother recently got rid of a bunch of hand made baskets she made. I found one that looked really strange and asked her about it. She said it was the kind of basket people used before buckets to feed the chickens and such. I was wondering if this basket *might* be good to use as a "prop" or for use at a reenactment.
Heres some pictures:

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/civilwarfreak61/000_1218.jpg
The whole thing

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/civilwarfreak61/000_1219.jpg
The handle

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k41/civilwarfreak61/000_1220.jpg
And extra frame she had

Any comments, history, anything?