Internet Archaeol. 16. Longworth Table Decoration

Table decoration

By the late 16th and early 17th centuries, there were books available on sugar-work, used as decoration for banquets (Hunter 1991, 40). Also pattern books were published with designs for platters to serve sweetmeats, cheese and fruit (Stead 1991, 135). At the same time, a verse or 'poesie' of satirical verses, proverbs, moralising stories such as Aesop's Fables or biblical quotations were placed in the middle on the reverse side of the platter. This went out of fashion during the Civil War and the Protectorate (ibid, 136). If the Buckley potters had experienced this type of table decoration or had access to the pattern books, they may have tried to make their version of it on their own pottery dishes.