French, Rouen, c.1720–40. Tin-glazed earthenware.
Sugar casters were a European invention, designed to enable the fashionable West Indian sweetening agent to be shaken over food at the dining table. The cover was pierced with holes and screw-threaded so that it could be tightly screwed to the body. This French sugar caster is likely to have been broken while being used; it was then repaired with glue and staples in a way that privileged function over display.
Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest
Cat. no. 195
