Silver baskets designed to imitate round, wicker, examples, had been used in wealthy households since the sixteenth century to clear dishes from the table or to hold food. They were still popular in the eighteenth century, though by the 1730s their form had changed from round to oval, with a single, swinging, handle in the centre rather than a handle at each side. The pierced sides of this basket loosely suggest wickerwork, but the cast scallop shell shapes and pierced asymmetrical patterns are also characteristic of the rococo style that was fashionable in England at this date.