My wife and I have three baskets like this: crystal, amber, and blue. I cannot offer any help as to their manufacturer, but I can tell you a bit about how they were probably made. I have had the mouldmakers at Fenton Art Glass look at all three baskets of our baskets as well as several other similar ones (i. e., pressed handle) made in England or the US (there is a US Patent dating from the 1880s for such an item, and I am still researching this). One basket made in England actually has what would be called a “looped” handle, and there is also an English-made basket commemorating a bridge that is made this way.
The Fenton mouldmakers are of the opinion that the baskets were not pressed upside down. Such would necessitate all the figure work to be on the plunger, a difficult proposition, indeed.
A press mould consists of these parts: mould, bottom plate, plunger, and ring. Typically, each of these is a separate piece, and all must fit together snugly. The various joint marks on the basket suggest that the plunger is bifurcated (two parts which come together during pressing) and the handle is created by what is a called a deep ring. There is a joint mark right across the center of the basket and directly below the center of the handle.
The key technological problem is getting the glass to flow properly to create the handle. We are still pondering whether this piece was simply pressed to shape (the best case scenario economically) or whether a former was employed after pressing.
If you have the book devoted to the L. G. Wright Glass Co. by Measell/Roetteis look at figs. 904-905 and 909-910. These will help you visualize how a plunger can be bifurcated.
James Measell, Historian
Fenton Art Glass Co.