Are most silver baskets Georgian?

No. Victorian and Edwardian listings lead by a wide margin, with the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s buckets behind them. Georgian and 18th-century pieces are a real but minority presence, forty and nineteen listings respectively. They cluster at the top of the range, and include a five-basket epergne dated 1765 that stands alone in the Sellingantiques archive.

What is the difference between sterling and plated baskets?

Sterling is hallmarked silver; plate is silver over a base metal. About a fifth of listings are described as plated, and a similar share again as sterling or solid. Old Sheffield plate, silver fused to copper, is treated as its own family in titles and is separate from later electroplate. Sterling pieces sit in the upper part of the range and plated ones lower.

Do sugar baskets always have a glass liner?

Only thirty-three titles name a liner at all, so it is a feature of some baskets rather than a rule. Where liners do appear, the colours run through blue, Bristol blue, cranberry, ruby, amethyst, vaseline, opaline, frosted and rock crystal. Some titles say the liner is original; many simply say a liner is present.

Which assay towns turn up most often?

Sheffield leads with forty mentions in titles, then London with twenty-six and Chester with fourteen. Birmingham, Dublin, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow all appear too, though the Irish and Scottish marks surface only once or twice. Dutch, Polish and Austro-Hungarian entries are the rarest origins recorded.

How often do these come up for sale?

Around fifty-three baskets are listed on Sellingantiques in a year, spread across a great many dealers. Seventy-nine different dealers have handled one, which makes it a form almost any general silver dealer will carry at some point rather than a specialism.

Why are some baskets called dishes or bowls?

The word basket is used loosely in dealer titles, and plenty of pieces carry two descriptions in the same line. There is also a tail of objects that are basket-shaped without serving food: thirteen basket pin cushions, plus single entries for a table lighter, a stamp case, an egg cruet, a jewellery box and a liqueur stand.