Fruit or cake basket

1800-1820

Measurements

4-7/8 in x 11-1/2 in x 6-3/4 in

Materials

Fused silver on copper

Credit Line

On loan from Winterthur

Accession Number

1983.72

Condition Notes

Some of the thin layer of fused silver has been polished off from the copper base.

Provenance

The basket was purchased from antiques dealer Philip H. Bradley of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, for use in the Wilson-Warner House.

Comments

The small, “boat-shaped” basket is made of copper with a thin layer of fused silver outside.  The silver is subject to eroding away from wear and polishing, visible inside the rim at the high end.  The basket is made of two solid metal sections (the bottom and the top rim) joined by wire loops soldered in place.  One end is one-half-inch higher than the other. Beading along the rim edge and leaves cast into the surface at each coiled end further ornament the basket.A “plated fruit basket” is listed among items sold in the March 24, 1829, David Wilson Jr. bankruptcy sale. It was sold to Daniel Corbit for $3.87½. That basket has not been identified among objects that descended from him.