Sugar Box thumbnail 1
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Sugar Box

1683-1684 (hallmarked)
Artist/Maker
Sutton, John (maker)

Object Type
This oval box and cover would have been made for storing sugar. The box has a clasp, and can be locked.

Ownership & Use
The aristocracy and the wealthy classes often had their own personal sugar box that they would take to the table. Sugar was usually kept in the care of the chief house servant, often in a locked container. The coiled serpent handle on this box may indicate that this was a marriage gift, as serpents were considered a symbol of marital harmony. The initials on the base are probably those of the married couple.

Decoration
The decoration on this box is skilfully chased (the metal surface has been modelled with a hammer and steel tools) in a flat manner similar to embroidery. In England this popular decoration was used on silver, textiles, painted furniture and ceramics. The motifs making up this sophisticated style known as 'Chinoiserie' are taken from a number of different sources. These were usually engravings from illustrated travel books about Asia and the Middle East, or painted decoration on Chinese porcelain and other imported works of art from the East.

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visit V&A trail: Britain and the Caribbean In this trail Avril Horsford, one of our African Heritage Gallery Guides, explores the traumatic history that connects Britain and the Caribbean, resulting from the lucrative and brutal trade in enslaved Africans, taken to work on sugar plantations in the 17th century. These objects reveal...

Object details

Categories
British Galleries
Metalwork
Caribbean
Object type
Sugar box
Materials and techniques
Silver, flat-chased
Brief description
Sugar box/ bowl
Dimensions
  • Height: 12.5cm
  • Width: 21.1cm
  • Including fastening depth: 18.7cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 21/09/1999 by MET Weight 21 oz 9 dwt
Marks and inscriptions
maker's mark IS; pricked with initials 'SSA' on base
Gallery label
(27/03/2003)
British Galleries:
By the late 17th century, sugar was used for sweetening wine, tea, coffee and chocolate. It was imported in great quantities from the West Indies but was still an expensive luxury and was often stored in a lockable box. This box is decorated with a fashionable mixture of Chinese, Japanese and Persian elements, known as 'Chinoiserie'.
(20/02/2007)
Text written about this object for 'Uncomfortable Truths / Traces of the Trade' gallery trails (Trail 3: 'Britain & The West Indies'), 20 February - 31 December 2007. Helen Mears & Janet Browne.

'SUGAR BOX / Made for storing sugar, this box has a clasp and can be locked. Its decoration, in a style known as 'Chinoiserie', is similar to that used in embroidery. The motifs were usually taken from the decoration on Chinese porcelain and other works of art imported from the East.

Sugar was produced in such terrible conditions that the slaves rebelled. Between 1640 and 1713 there were seven slave revolts in the British sugar islands. The situation in Jamaica was especially volatile. There, plantation slaves ran away to join settlements of escaped slaves, or 'maroons', established during the earlier Spanish colonisation of the island. In Britain, too, sugar provided a focus for the abolitionist movement. Like today's Fair Trade campaigners, abolitionists in the late 18th century urged a national boycott of West Indian sugar.'
Object history
Possibly made by John Sutton;
Summary
Object Type
This oval box and cover would have been made for storing sugar. The box has a clasp, and can be locked.

Ownership & Use
The aristocracy and the wealthy classes often had their own personal sugar box that they would take to the table. Sugar was usually kept in the care of the chief house servant, often in a locked container. The coiled serpent handle on this box may indicate that this was a marriage gift, as serpents were considered a symbol of marital harmony. The initials on the base are probably those of the married couple.

Decoration
The decoration on this box is skilfully chased (the metal surface has been modelled with a hammer and steel tools) in a flat manner similar to embroidery. In England this popular decoration was used on silver, textiles, painted furniture and ceramics. The motifs making up this sophisticated style known as 'Chinoiserie' are taken from a number of different sources. These were usually engravings from illustrated travel books about Asia and the Middle East, or painted decoration on Chinese porcelain and other imported works of art from the East.
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
53-1865

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Record createdApril 28, 1999
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O10970/sugar-box-sutton-john/
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