Basket London – 1751

A magnificent George II Rococo swing-handle cake basket. The upper border is cast with fruiting vines and the feet are unusually formed as stylized lion faces. Between the feet on each side is a very detailed human mask. The basket has some of the finest hand-cut pierced work and applied cast work that one is likely to find. The center is engraved with the beautifully engraved original coat of arms of the important Fleetwood family (their biography is included in the photographs). The cartouche in the centre of the basket’s handle has the crest of The Earl of Eldon ( see biography) which is repeated under the basket and was engraved in 1821. The Earl of Eldon , John Scott was Lord Chancellor of Great Britain – the highest ranking officer of state that nominally outranks The Prime Minister. The swing-handle of the basket has a mythical beast at each end. The basket is of very substantial size and weight. It is in excellent condition with a fine patina. The basket presumably came out of the Fleetwood family possession and into that of The Earl of Eldon sometime in the late eighteenth century when the Fleetwood Baronetcy became extinct in 1780. It may even have been a gift as it happens to be made in the Earl’s birth year (1751).