Basket

Description

Though differing somewhat in details, baskets of this general form not only were made in a range of Staffordshire, England’s earthenware and stoneware but also in English, Chinese export and American porcelain. Such objects were appropriate for serving fresh fruit and presumably certain other non-liquid foods and, in some cases, imitated vessels woven in natural materials such as cane. Ceramic versions of such baskets sometimes feature delicately incised outlines that helped craftsmen know where to cut the overlapping circle elements. For a tortoiseshell creamware version of this vessel form, see 2024.0014.048. For a rare porcelain basket by the Bonnin and Morris factory of Philadelphia, see 1959.0097.