Cake basket
Phillips Garden (fl.1739 - 1762)
Category
Silver
Date
1750
Materials
silver
Measurements
240 x 375 x 290 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246847
Caption
An unusual George II cake basket in the form of a scallop shell on three dolphin feet made around 1750. Sliced Cake was a popular desert in the 18th century and served in cake baskets like this one. This was originally housed at Mrs Greville’s London house in Charles Street.
Summary
An unusual George II cake basket in the form of a scallop shell on three dolphin feet, pierced at the edge inside the wavy gadrooned rim, the flying caryatid handle springing from a double fish-tail and rocaille terminal.
Full description
An unusual George II cake basket in the form of a scallop shell on three dolphin feet, pierced at the edge inside the wavy gadrooned rim, the flying caryatid handle springing from a double fish-tail and rocaille terminal. Its exuberant decoration is illustrative of the Rococo style which was fashionable during the middle years of the eighteenth century.
Provenance
Date of acquisition not recorded, but originally at 16 Charles Street, Mayfair, Mrs Greville's London home, and bequeathed by Margaret McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1863-1942) with Polesden Lacey, to the National Trust, in memory of her father, William McEwan (1827-1913) in 1942. This item found on the probate inventory record for Charles Street chattels at Polesden Lacey, silver, page 53.
Marks and inscriptions
P.G. / lion passant / leopard's head crowned / p (makers marks stamped on base)
Makers and roles
Phillips Garden (fl.1739 - 1762), maker