Sweetmeat set (confituurster)
De Metale Pot factory
(Dutch (Delft), working 1670–1775)
Lambertus van Eenhoorn, proprietor, De Metalen Pot Factory
(Dutch, 1651–1721)
about 1700-20
Medium/TechniqueTin-glazed earthenware
DimensionsDiameter: 39 cm (15 1/2 in.)
Credit LineGift of Horace Wood Brock
Accession number2013.1736.1-9
On View
On viewClassificationsCeramics
Collections
Star-shaped sweetmeat sets with separate small dishes arranged around a central piece are rare survivors among early Deflt pottery. When new, they must have been both stylish and costly, involving extensive shaping and hand-painting of their Chinese-inspired floral decoration. As a centerpiece on a dining table, they would have held sweet and savory delicacies, such as preserves, relishes, and “sweetmeats” (candied fruit and nuts) to accompany more than one course. The Metal Pot, one of Delft’s leading potteries, was at its peak of creativity around the time this set was made.
Inscriptions"Aronson Antiquairs" gummed label on back of central dish, with a second gummed label identifying it as part of the Gunther Grethe collection.ProvenanceSold by Dr. Günther Grethe, Hamburg, to Aronson Antiquairs (dealer), Amsterdam; 2004, sold by Aronson to Horace Wood Brock, New York; 2013, gift of Horace Wood Brock to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 18, 2013)
Lambertus van Eenhoorn, proprietor, De Metalen Pot Factory
about 1700-1710
Lambertus van Eenhoorn, proprietor, De Metalen Pot Factory
about 1700-1715
Zaccharias Dextra, proprietor of De Drie Vergulde Astonnekens factory
around 1725-1750
