The Bride's Basket

During the mid to late Victorian times in both America and Europe the Bride's Basket became very popular. They were made in a variety of different colored glass and some had silver plated holders with handles that the basket fitted into. Manufactures of silver plate such as Pairpoint bought the glass baskets from various glass producers, for example from Mount Washington Glass Company, and mounted them in ornate silver plated frames. Frequently nowadays you will come across a "marriage" between the basket and the frame. An original bride's basket will fit very snugly into its frame, but if it doesn't, it is probably not the original.

They were given as gifts to the bride and were sometimes placed on the wedding table to show off the bride’s bouquet. After the wedding cake had been cut, the bride would use her basket to carry pieces of cake to her guests. After the honeymoon, the basket would then have pride of place on the sideboard in the dining room. By the latter part of the Victorian period, around the 1890's, cut glass baskets were gaining in popularity. Ultimately, the end of the 19th century saw a wane in popularity of the bride's basket.

The basket I have featured is a lovely hand painted Burmese glass basket made by Fenton in the Dogwood Pattern and signed by S.Davis. I will talk about more about Burmese glass in my next blog. You can see this Burmese glass basket in a display case in my South Battery Street booth in the Alpharetta Queen of Hearts, along with a large Fenton glass collection. It is priced at $149.