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Description: | Everybody had bad breath in the eighteenth century. Bonbonnieres contained sugar coated seeds and nuts which were sucked to disguise it. The word bonbonniere comes from the French word `bonbon', which refers to sugar coated almond sweets. Owning an enamel bonbonniere indicated the wealth of a person, as did having it filled with sweets, because sugar was expensive up to the mid 18th century. In the 17th century, sugar was produced in very large quantities as more Europeans started sugar plantations in the Caribbean islands with African slaves. When demand for sugary foods such as jam, tea, cocoa and sweets increased in Europe, this increased the number of slaves being forced from Africa to the Caribbean. Towards the end of the 18th century, sugar became cheaper and less exclusive to the rich. It is thought that tooth decay became widespread as sugar became available to more people.
Bonbonniere, stamped and painted in enamel colours to represent a Pug's head. | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/ | Publisher: | Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service | Rights holder: | Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service | Subjects: | Manufacturing industry Black Country Decorative arts Metalworking industries Dogs Health Confectionery Enamels Bilston Georgian period | Temporal: | 1760 - 1780
Georgian (1714-1837) | Source: | Black Country History | Identifier: | http://www.blackcountryhistory.org/colle... | Go to resource |
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