Cake Basket (1753): Art, History and Details

Cake Basket (1753) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Samuel Herbert and Company.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Drinking tea at the end of the day, accompanied by sweet cakes and savory delights, became an established ritual in Britain at all levels of society during the 1700s. In grand houses, silver teapots, caddies, and cake baskets elevated this afternoon refreshment to a formal gathering.

Object facts

• Title: Cake Basket
• Date: 1753
• Creator attribution: Samuel Herbert and Company
• Culture: Britain, London
• Type: Silver
• Technique: Silver
• Dimensions: 26.4 x 30.1 cm (10 3/8 x 11 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 2016.302

A detail from the museum

Sheaves of wheat adorning the rim of this basket allude to the flour used in pastries and cakes for tea.

Collection credit

Gift of Richard and Ann Gridley

Further reading listed by the museum

• No existing citations

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.