The cake basket, otherwise known as a bread basket or fruit basket, was a particularly popular item of tableware in the 18th century. One Sheffield plating firm, Watson & Bradbury, in their pattern book for 1788-1815, listed 148 different patterns for this type of object alone. These baskets were usually circular, boat shaped or oval, like this example, which has a wirework side and base and a molded swing handle.

When plated wire was first used, in the early days of the industry, it was manufactured from hollow tubing, formed of either copper or brass around which a very thin fused sheet was secured. However, because of its vulnerability to wear, this method was superseded in 1768 when solid plated wire was introduced. This in turn was replaced in about 1780 by a simpler process, which soon became standard the method for making plated wire: a sheet of fine silver would be wrapped around a bar of copper and fused together.

Sheffield plate originated, with the discovery in 1742, that bars of silver and copper, in unequal proportions, fused by heating under pressure, could be rolled into sheets of laminated metal and worked like silver. The industry this material created flourished for about 100 years until superseded by electroplating in the 1840s.