Silver-Plated Swing-Handled Cake Basket | Pierced Panels | Reeded Borders | Georgian Style

Silver-Plated Swing-Handled Cake Basket | Pierced Panels | Reeded Borders | Georgian Style

Pierced so the light falls through it, and shaped to bring what it holds to the table with a certain ceremony.

Pierced silver baskets with swing handles were familiar objects on the Georgian dining table, used for presenting bread, cakes and other foods. Their shaped outlines and openwork decoration continued to influence silver-plated tableware through the 19th and 20th centuries. The hinged handle allowed the basket to be carried, and lowered when not in use.

The basket is a shaped oval, its lobed rim drawn out into points and finished with a fine reeded edge. The sides are pierced in panels of interlacing scrollwork, alternating with plain panels, around a smooth oval well. It stands on a raised oval foot with a matching reeded border. The angular swing handle is hinged at each side, so it can be raised to carry or laid flat. It is unmarked.

The basket is in very good condition, with minor plating loss at the rim, and no dents, splits or repairs.

Key Details

• Maker: unidentified; unmarked
• Age: vintage
• Form: swing-handled oval cake basket with pierced sides, on a raised oval foot
• Material: silver plate
• Decoration: pierced interlacing-scroll panels; reeded rim and foot borders; angular swing handle
• Dimensions: length 27.8 cm; width 22.8 cm; height 22.5 cm
• Weight: 699 g
• Condition: very good; minor plating loss at the rim
• Buyer profile: collector of Georgian-style silver plate; someone setting a traditional tea or dining table; buyer looking for a serving piece that also works as a display basket

Collector Appeal

The shaped outline, pierced panels and hinged handle reflect the lasting influence of Georgian table silver. Its generous size lets it serve as a cake or bread basket, a fruit dish or a centrepiece on a sideboard.

A basket is the most modest of vessels; pierce it, and it becomes a way of carrying light to the table.