Accession number:
MS M.681
Title:
Sycamore trenchers
Created:
London, England, 1595.
Credit:
Gift of J.P. Morgan (1867-1943) in 1935.
Description:
12 circular plates (1 column, 5-9 lines) : sycamore, ill. ; 130-135 mm diameter
Provenance:
From the household of Queen Elizabeth I of England; gift of J.P. Morgan, 1935.
Notes:
Dessert plates, written and decorated in London, England, in 1595.
Text: apothegms (pithy sayings) in English rhyme written in 5-9 lines and inscribed within a circle at center of each trencher. The verses, humorous or moral, were intended for the amusement of dinner guests.
Decoration: each trencher painted with fruit and flower motifs against stippled backgrounds, surrounding the center text.
Trenchers were used for serving fruit or sweetmeats like marzipan, at the close of Elizabethan dinner parties.
Scribe: perhaps T L R who signed one of the plates at the end of its verse.
Contained in the original circular wooden box; painted on the cover are the arms of England surrounded by the Order of the Garter.
Variant Title:
Morgan trenchers
Script:
cursive
Language:
English
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