Happenstance (i.e.- a web search on "Rambouillet+Marie+Antoinette") led me to the most charming online retailer called The Dessert Course. The site focuses strictly on those items used for setting a proper dessert table, including sweetmeats, tea services, punch bowls, pôts de cremes, and copper molds (not necessarily for the dessert table, but important for making those bombes and baba au rhums). The merchandise is interspersed with dessert and cooking related quotes from Balzac, Proust, and Diderot as well as brief histories of these dessert accoutrements.
As I just stumbled upon this site, I can't vouch for the customer service. However, I always find it exciting to see retail shops that have such a narrow focus- it's usually an indication that the owner is quite passionate about what he is selling. And if you think that it seems silly to own items that some might find extraneous, guess again. In the words of Antonin Carême, one of history's greatest chefs, "I believe architecture to be the first amongst the arts... and the principal branch of architecture is confectionary." 
Marie Antoinette footed bowl- a reproduction of the piece famously molded from the Queen's breast.
Green Dragon Punch Bowl, which I think has a multitude of uses
Pot de Crèmes by Mottahedeh
Rambouillet Dairy Service Etruscan Cup
Glass cake stands and a sweetmeat topper
Copper pudding molds by Ruffoni
Image at top: John Nash's engraving of the kitchen at Brighton Pavilion
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Dessert Course
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Great find. Amazing site!
ReplyDeleteA- So glad you like it, b/c I think it's a gem of a site. Love your new photo/icon too :)
ReplyDeleteOh that green dragon punch bowl! Looks like you've stumbled upon something really special.
ReplyDeleteLove the copper molds!
ReplyDeleteCourtney- I know, I think that's one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteAccording to available research, it is only rumor that the queen's breast was used as the model for the Jatté-teton bowl at Rambouillet. According to an article in the Magazine Antiques (October 2000) about the porcelain service made for the queen's dairy, "The most famous shape from the service is the breast bowl derived from the ancient Greek mastos cup, which was also in the shape of a woman's breast. In both versions the breast-shaped bowl rests on a tripod stand. The Sevres stand is made up of goat's heads supported on goat's feet. It was rumored that Marie Antoinette's breast was the model, although there are no documents to support this. Four such bowls were ordered for the Rambouillet dairy and the bowl continued to be produced from the original mold until 1885, when it was replaced. The bowl is again made at Sevres today."
ReplyDeleteDelightful post, Peak!
ReplyDeleteLoved the Etruscan "dairy vessel" especially.
As for the engraving from Brighton Pavilion, who wouldn't want a kitchen like that?
Aesthete- Well, this information seems to put that rumor to rest!
ReplyDeleteToby- I've seen the Brighton kitchen in person and it is certainly impressive and amazing. That said, this engraving captures the magic of that time.
ReplyDeleteI discovered your site a while ago now & regularly check it as you're my favourite combo: into decoration but unafraid to be intellectual about it. The Stefanidis page just goes to show! Please carry on making the days of this harried full-time working mother of 3 so graceful!
ReplyDeleteAnne-Sophie- Thank you so much for your kind words; it really means a lot to me!
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I'm giving you the "You Make My Day" award. All the info is on my blog. Great post as always!
ReplyDeletePeak, But don't you think the rumor of the queen's breast being used as a model would have been enough to ignite the fury of the French masses? Might the story have started around that time?
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the kitchen at George IV's "Maritime Pavilion" (as early engravings referred to it). I have been there too, and it is absolutely amazing.
ReplyDeleteAesthete- I'm sure you're right; that might have been deemed scandalous and decadent. However, it would be very interesting to find out how that rumor got started. I'm sure it could have been any number of French nobles. What intrigue!
ReplyDeleteTo add my mite to the breast debate, a new exhibition opening in Paris on Marie-Antoinette has apparently lots of pretty salacious material (pamphlets, songs, drawings...), where it might be possible to search for clues.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to the exhibition's site: http://www.rmn.fr/Marie-Antoinette and a little browsing also dished up this link to the Bibliothèque Nationale's most interesting select bibliography about M-A's taste: http://www.bnf.fr/PAGES/catalog/pdf/marie_antoinette.pdf
Anne-Sophie- Thank you!! Looks I'll be doing a bit of research tonight ;)
ReplyDeleteoooo, my mother used to have copper molds like those. wonder what happen to those?....
ReplyDeleteCurly- Did you grow up having fabulous desserts?? I hope you can find the molds; I think they're so charming!
ReplyDelete