Six 19th Century Wooden Fruit Trenchers or Roundels in the E...

Estimate

£400 - £600

Six 19th Century Wooden Fruit Trenchers or Roundels in the Elizabethan Manner, painted in red, green, blue and white with flowers, fruit and scrolls, with verses in black, each 7ins diameter
Provenance: The Rosslyn Neave Collection
Literature: See Owen Evan-Hughes, "Domestic Utensils of Wood" (1932), p.64 & 65, pl.24 for Elizabethan examples
Literature: See Madeleine Neave, "Vintage Breadboards" (2019), p.150, for illustration, and reference
Note: These thin, circular wooden trenchers would provide the post-banquet entertainment during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James II and Charles I. Once the main course was cleared away, the roundels would be placed face down and sweets would be served on them.
Once eaten, Grace would be said and the roundels reversed, revealing their ornamental faces painted with one or more verses. These verses, varying from the amusing to the moralising stories, would be shared with the guests.