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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DragonflyWink, post: 301130, member: 111&quot;]Not much to add, it&#039;s circa 1880s, and would have been sold as a cake basket.&nbsp; Cake baskets, fruit baskets, and other similar pieces are now often called &#039;bride&#039;s baskets&#039; since they were popular wedding gifts, but they weren&#039;t sold as such, bride&#039;s baskets do show up in the 20th century, though they&#039;re taller pieces intended to hold flowers.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The black finish in the first pics is just decades of tarnish, embossed (occasionally called brocade) designs like this were usually offered in &#039;old silver&#039; or &#039;oxydized&#039; finishes, the recesses were patinated, with the higher areas polished to show off the pattern, though they were sometimes also offered in plain &#039;silver&#039; and gilt or parcel gilt finishes.&nbsp; Don&#039;t believe I&#039;d attempt much more than just a light polishing of the high areas, some folks like the tarnish.&nbsp; The cracks are unfortunate, but it&#039;s unusual to see the tile insert at all...</p><p><br /></p><p>The clip below shows a napkin ring with the same design as the larger bands, it&#039;s from an 1889 retailer&#039;s catalog, so can&#039;t pin down the maker, but they do state that it was made by one of four companies: Rogers, Smith &amp; Co., Meriden Britannia (didn&#039;t find it in my old MB catalogs), Meriden Silver Plate, or Middletown Plate.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>~Cheryl</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]98435[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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