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Article: "Fables and fruit-trenchers teach as much": English banqueting trenchers, c. 1585-1662.
- Article from:
- The Magazine Antiques
- Article date:
- June 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When William Harrison (1535-1593) described increasingly luxurious English customs in 1587, he recalled a great increase in living standards during his lifetime, "wherein gold and silver most aboundeth." He wrote of "marvelously altered" houses of the gentry and of prosperous farmers and their "exchange of vessel, as of treen platters into pewter, and wooden spoons into silver or tin." (1) The trading up in goods included brightly glazed ceramic and silver dishes and Venetian glasses as well as silver spoons and knives. As the sixteenth century progressed, the great dining halls gave way to smaller dining parlors and "closets which were favored as new settings for meals." ...