Sweetmeat Stand

Dateca. 1765

Maker Bow Porcelain Manufactory (1749-1776)

MediumPorcelain, soft-paste

DimensionsOverall: 5 1/8in. (13cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Wesley and Elise H. Wright in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Hofheimer II and in honor of John C. Austin

Object number2012-88

DescriptionThis soft-paste porcelain sweetmeat stand rests on three conical feet, which support three shell shaped dishes joined together in the center by a column encrusted with shells and coral. At the top of the piece is a circular dish. The shells are highlighted with cobalt blue and the interiors of the shell-shaped dishes are painted with clusters of grapes and leaves.
Label TextSweetmeat dishes in the shape of shells or groups of shells were often employed during dessert for the serving of candied fruits and nuts, or sweetmeats. These confections including candied violets, pickles walnuts, and sugared citron, could be produced at home. Recipes for these and many other sweetmeats appear in period publications. However many people purchased imported comfits.

At the end of the meal, pairs of dishes like these were brought to the table as part of a larger dessert service, which would typically have included cakes and perhaps fresh fruit. We know that dishes of this type were in use in Williamsburg during the eighteenth century because a fragment of a porcelain example was found here archaeologically at the site of the William Prentis House.

ProvenancePurchased from Rod Jellicoe, London, England