Basket

Maker: John Edwards II (British, active 1723–ca. 1753)

Date: 1731/32

Culture: British, London

Medium: Silver, silver plate

Dimensions: Overall (basket, confirmed): 9 x 17 1/2 x 13 3/4 in., 90 oz. 17 dwg. (22.9 x 44.5 x 34.9 cm, 2.8255kg);
Overall (liner, confirmed): 5 x 13 1/8 x 10 3/4 in. (12.7 x 33.3 x 27.3 cm)

Classification: Metalwork-Silver

Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Richardson, Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, Mr. and Mrs. Michel David-Weill, Ada Peluso and Romano I. Peluso, Annette de la Renta, Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation, H. Rodes and Patricia Hart, Irene Roosevelt Aitken, Mr. and Mrs. Sid R. Bass, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Friedland, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, Stephen K. Scher, Alexis Gregory, Armin Bran Allen, Ford Family Foundation, Iris Foundation and Carol B. Grossman Gifts, in honor of Ian Wardropper, 2011

Accession Number: 2011.432a, b

Description

Silver baskets, often referring in their design to wicker prototypes, were made in pairs as part of a dinner service and were used for serving bread or cake. This basket and its mate were part of a large acquisition of silver made by the 8th Earl of Exeter to furnish the Elizabethan manor Burghley House.

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