Ornate antique quadruple silverplate cake or fruit basket by Hartford Silver, with an antique china bowl manufacturer by P. H. Leonard of Vienna, Austria. (c. 1908)
This stunning set features an oval footed silverplate basket frame with a plethora of flowers and vines forming the handle, the base and the feet, all in a rich, dark oxidized silver finish. The base of the silverbasket frame has a highly polished silver finish. This elegant cake or fruit basket (some believe it may have been custom-made for a Leonard china set for use as an asparagus serving bowl), envelopes the ornateness of the Victorian period silver.
No silverplate wear or loss is noted on this basket frame. There are some light scratches noted to the highly polished mirror finish silver base where the china bowl insert is placed.
Cake baskets, fruit baskets or brides (bride's) baskets came into fashion late in the 18th century and experienced their greatest popularity during the first half of the 19th century. These hollowware forms were used to hold carefully arranged fruits or cakes.
Great ceremony often accompanied the display and use of these silver and silver plated cake or fruit baskets, and the delicacies they contained. Most American silver cake baskets and compotes had solid bodies, but a few were made of open, interlaced wirework.
As the close of the 19th century drew near, large numbers of these dishes were made with beautiful multi-colored, ruffled glass bowls. As the century progressed, these amenities grew more elaborate, often having an abundance of naturalistic or stylized ornament added to a complex shape. Many incorporated multi-colored ruffled glass baskets for even greater elegance.
The Victorian dining room, the main room used for many social occasions, was often used for the conspicuous display of wealth through luxurious table objects. Principal among these displays of wealth was the silver cake or fruit basket, always replete with food.
Decorative piercing on early silver was relatively uncommon because each hole had to be laboriously cut out by hand using a tiny jeweler’s saw. Thus, piercing was usually employed only when necessary. The most desirable pieces are elaborately pierced, marked by a well-known and respected silver company and of substantial weight.
Cake baskets are very elegant additions to dining-room silver and remain so today. The best silverplate baskets are of substantial weight, often with profuse foliate or animal ornamentation and with a superior finish.
The antique china bowl is in excellent condition, with no chips, cracks, crazing or other damage. A few lightly rough patches are noted on the side where the handle may have rubbed. Very little of the gold trim is missing along the scalloped edges. Sprays of violet and yellow flowers adorn this antique china, and a sprinkling of the gold extends down onto the ribbed and swirled sides. This antique Leonard china bowl measures approximately 10" long, 7.5" wide and 2" high, with a backstamp in green LEONARD, VIENNA, AUSTRIA.
The antique silverplate cake basket measures 6.75" x 5" (9" wide at handles), stands 2" high and 8" high at the top of the handle. Touchmarked on the base with HARTFORD SILVER CO., QUADRUPLE PLATE and the pattern number 2505. This piece may have been resilvered at one time as initials are hand-etched into the base lightly, as shown. You can read more about the Hartford Silver Company from our Silver Manufacturers pages.
A983 - Quadruple Silverplate HARTFORD SILVER Cake Basket Antique P. H. Leonard China Bowl - Vienna, Austria
$250.00
