Snail Basket
This basket was used to collect snails, which were popped into the narrow hole at the top. It is a much better receptacle than a bucket, as anyone has ever gathered snails will affirm: snails are remarkably quick to climb out of a bucket.
Snails were once an important ingredient in the traditional Spanish meal, paella. This is still a very popular meal - but nowadays most people have no time to be snail-hunting, and the snails are bought at the market or even in the supermarket (in which case they have already been cooked and are sold frozen.)
Foreigners cooking paella tend to skip this ingredient.
Murcia, Spain.