A round coconut basket with a semi-circular handle decorated with black stripes and with black crosses woven into the bowl. This basket, a pair with RCIN 74626, represents an industry which Queen Salote of Tonga, who presented them, had re-established on the island of Tonga. Queen Salote had endeared herself to the British public when, leaving the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey, she refused to let her carriage hood be put up despite the rain, and rode back to the Palace waving to the crowds. During The Queen's Commonwealth Tour in 1953-54, she visited Tonga, arriving by flying boat before being welcomed by a feast of yams, lobsters, fruit, pigs and coconut milk. In keeping with Tongan tradition, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh ate with their fingers whilst seated on the floor. Tonga is the only indigenous sovereign monarchy in Oceania.