Are fire baskets and fire grates the same thing?

In these listings, near enough. "Basket" and "grate" are used interchangeably in titles, and "grate" turns up in well over half of them. Strictly, the grate is the barred part that holds the fuel. A register grate is a different object, built in with a plate that regulates the flue, and only one appears in the sample.

How old are most antique fire baskets?

The dated field runs 1800 to 1950, and the weight of it sits at the turn of the century. The 1900s label leads, with Victorian close behind and Edwardian after that. Georgian and Regency dates are thin on the ground. The oldest thing in the samples is a seventeenth-century wrought iron basket, the youngest is dated 1950, and neither end is crowded.

Why do listings say Georgian Revival or 18th Century Style?

Because the piece was made in an earlier manner rather than in that period. Style names outnumber genuine periods in this category, and most of the pieces wearing them are dated 1900 to 1920. Adam, George III, Regency, Neo Gothic, Neo Classical and Renaissance all appear as descriptive idioms. They tell you the pattern, not the century.

What comes with a fire basket when sold as a set?

A pair of andirons or fire dogs, most often. Nearly one title in five names them, so a substantial share of the category comes to market as a hearth set. A smaller number include a cast fire back, the plate that sits behind the fire against the chimney back. A few are offered as a fuller fireplace assembly.

Is brass common on antique fire baskets?

It shows up in about one title in ten, and as trim rather than structure: finials, front rails, applied ornament. Brass with iron recurs among the higher-priced entries, in serpentine fronts, griffins and neoclassical designs. Plain iron sits lower down.

Do many fire baskets come from outside Britain?

Almost none. Titles say "English" more than any other origin, and only one piece in the whole sample is given a non-British source: an early eighteenth-century Dutch wrought iron basket. That makes Continental work the rarest thing in the category by a wide margin. Around twelve fire baskets are listed on Sellingantiques in a year, spread across thirty-five dealers who have handled one.