The dog holding a basket in its mouth was a design produced in a number of American potteries, particularly in southeastern Pennsylvania. Probably derived from English Staffordshire prototypes, the figure was extremely popular and relatively easy to produce in a mold. Dogs of this type were made at the pottery started in 1840 by Daniel Henne in Upper Bern Township and carried on by his son Joseph K. Henne using local clay from the region. Dogs with baskets were also produced in quantity in Womelsdorf in Heidelberg Township during the nineteenth century by potters such as Joseph Feeg (active 1856 -1864) and Willoughby Smith (active 1864 -1905).
