Points, Curves, and Surfaces

To construct this model, I began with the simplest part: the cylindrical base. I  traced circles of varying diameters and then lofted them together. For the lid, I traced a contour in profile and revolved it 360 degrees. The tricky part was modeling the handle, as seen below.

drawing control point curves from images to construct handle 

To construct the handle, I broke it into surfaces to model individually. I traced the base images with control point curves that moved in the x,y, and z planes to the desired contour and then lofted the curves to form the various surfaces that form to make the handle.

Editing surfaces with control points

This process of editing included a curvature analysis, in which I adjusted the number of polygons that comprise the surface.

curvature analysis

The problem I am having is creating surfaces from open curves (the surface edges).  This image below shows the back of the object, where I need a surface to form the backside of the handle. 

Problem creating surface
Below are some rendered views of the model thus far with some basic materials, experimenting with the level of reflection.