Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 67, The Whiteley Galleries

Bread Basket

1827-1828 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This bread basket might have held bread, cake or fruit and would have been passed round the table. Here the silversmith has embellished the surface with chased decoration, using special tools to model the surface without removing any metal. The centre carries an interwoven monogram.

Bread baskets were particularly popular items of tableware from about 1700 to 1800. They were usually circular, oval or boat-shaped with an everted (turned-out) rim and a high, arched, bail handle. The handle was sometimes fixed but more often hinged, as in this example. The sides were decorated by piercing or die stamping or a combination of both techniques. The basket usually rested on a supporting rim with similar decoration.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Silver, raised and chased, with hinged handle
Brief description
Silver, London hallmarks for 1827-8, mark of John Edward Terry.
Physical description
Basket for cake or bread. Border of shells. Rococo in style but structured in panels.
Dimensions
  • Handle up height: 23.0cm
  • Width: 28.00cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • IET for John Edward Terrey, sterling, leopard, duty, date: marks struck on the rim of the basket
  • The centre is engraved with the interwoven monogram WRF or WRS
Credit line
Mr A. G. Gooch Bequest through The Art Fund
Object history
Acquisition RF: 67 / 2701
Bequest - A G Gooch Esq., through National Art Collections Fund
John Edward Terrey worked at Foster Lane in partnership with Samuel Hennell from 1814 -1816. He moved to Hatton garden in 1819, after the partnership was dissolved, where he was registered as a plateworker. Apart from making new silver, Terrey also "improved" antique silver by rechasing and altering the function of the piece.
Summary
This bread basket might have held bread, cake or fruit and would have been passed round the table. Here the silversmith has embellished the surface with chased decoration, using special tools to model the surface without removing any metal. The centre carries an interwoven monogram.

Bread baskets were particularly popular items of tableware from about 1700 to 1800. They were usually circular, oval or boat-shaped with an everted (turned-out) rim and a high, arched, bail handle. The handle was sometimes fixed but more often hinged, as in this example. The sides were decorated by piercing or die stamping or a combination of both techniques. The basket usually rested on a supporting rim with similar decoration.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.1205-1967

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Record createdMarch 3, 2004
Record URL
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