banqueting trencher

This Tudor trencher, one of a set in Norwich Castle's collections, was made especially for serving desserts. It illustrates the Biblical parable of the rich man Dives and the beggar Lazarus. The painting, deriving from a contemporary German engraving, shows Dives with his fashionably-dressed friends, feasting in a luxurious room. Lazarus languishes outside. The smaller scene on the right shows what happens next: a tiny devil chases Dives off to Hell, while Lazarus goes to Heaven.

Sugar reached Europe in quantity for the first time in the sixteenth century, imported from newly established colonies in the New World. This set an extravagant trend for banquets consisting entirely of sweet dishes. The most spectacular, such as those for the royal court, could run to over one hundred different desserts. These would include sugar paste and marzipan moulded into sculptures, sometimes covered in gold leaf.

Trenchers were almost always decorated with religious scenes. They were placed on the table painted-side uppermost and were turned over for use, the dessert being served on the plain underside. It was felt morally important for diners to be warned of the consequences of sinful self-indulgence and neglecting their duties to the poor!