Egg Caddy
ca. 1790
Here is a blueprint for the most over-the-top breakfast of the 18th century. Matthew Boulton, a giant of the Industrial Revolution who usually built steam engines, designed this silver 'egg caddy' to keep boiled eggs warm at the table. The drawing shows four urn-shaped cups—faint ovals reveal where the eggs would sit—surrounding a central covered dish, likely for butter. The Neoclassical style, with its fluted bowls and elegant ring handle, proves that even morning meals were a major status symbol for the elite in 1790.
- Technique
- Ink drawing
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- Paper
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