Interesting Small Knotted Horsehair Brush basket with canoe but am not 100% certain

but am not 100% certain of that attribution

There is a thin line near the top edge of the canvas that I believe is a dirt stain

with room for a lock to secure it

yielding this wonderful warm rusty red color with mustard yellow highlights

Interesting Small Knotted Horsehair Brush basket with canoe but am not 100% certainI think it is possible that this is a fly whisk or a horsetail whisk brush, which from what I understand are common to Asia, both as tokens of Taoism (shooing away evils) and with the practical function of brushing away the flies, mosquitoes. etc. But I am not certain! What made me fall in love with it is the construction, with each small bunch of horsehair carefully knotted onto what appears to be thread, which wraps around what appears to be a thin