Bread basket

Status

On view

Label Text

On February 4, 1774 the surviving son of Martha Washington -- John "Jacky" Parke Custis -- married Eleanor Calvert, uniting two of the most well-connected and wealthy families in colonial America. Although young (nineteen and sixteen respectively), the couple recognized the importance of surrounding themselves with fine goods that spoke of their fortune, taste, and gentility. They assembled an impressive array of silver hollow and flatware imported from England such as this basket used to serve bread, cake, and fruit at the dinner table.

See also hot water urn, W-107, salvers, W-108, W-2516 and W-2760, cruet stand, W-484, punch strainer, W-2527, ladle, W-2554, and candlesticks, W-2521/A.1-D.2.

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Date1774-1775

Maker Burrage Davenport

Geography Made - England

Medium/TechniqueSilver

DimensionsOverall: 10 1/2 in. x 13 5/8 in. x 10 1/2 in. (26.67 cm x 34.61 cm x 26.67 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mary Lee Bowman and Robert E. Lee IV, 1981

Object numberW-2519

DescriptionPierced and engraved oval basket with swing handle on pedestal foot; raised body with flared rim having an applied, cast gadrooned border, sides are pierced with eight equidistant rosettes connected by an undulating garland against three rows of reeding separated by bands of circles; applied, flared pedestal foot with pierced reeding and applied, cast gadrooned border around base; swing handle with repeating diamond or lattice design and cast gadrooned borders tapers into ribbed, cylindrical pivots soldered to basket sides; engraved at center of well with the Custis family crest: a splayed griffon, head facing left, in a shield suspended from a ribbon and flanked by two flowering sprigs.
Published ReferencesKathryn C. Buhler, Mount Vernon Silver (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 1957), 30, 33.

MarkingsTwo hallmarks or stamps on the rim of the basket flanking the rear handle pivot: British sterling standard mark features a lion passant in a pointed shield; maker's mark features the letters "B" and "D" separated by a dot, all in a canted-corner rectangle. Two hallmarks or stamps on the rim of the basket flanking the front handle pivot: London city mark features a crowned leopard's head in a shield; date letter features the letter "T" in a pointed shield. Two hallmarks or stamps on the center of the underside of the handle: British sterling standard mark features a lion passant in a pointed shield; partial maker's mark featuring a dot followed by the letter "D".

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