AMERICAN OR FRENCH PEWTER ICE CREAM MOLDS, FOR KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN'S VISIT TO PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

AMERICAN OR FRENCH PEWTER ICE CREAM MOLDS, FOR KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN'S VISIT TO PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY The 16 two-piece hinged assortment of fruit pewter ice cream or sorbet molds includes 6 pears, a strawberry, cantaloupe, grapes, pineapple, lemon, set of apples, and other fruits. Chef Mesnier most famously used the pear molds to shape sorbet into pears that he carefully placed in golden sugar blown baskets. The basket of pears sorbet was specifically created for the State Dinner that welcomed King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain to the White House in 1981. The dessert dish for that occasion was formally titled "Fantasia of Pear Sorbet in a Basket." The molds are marked V. CLAD & SONS, BREVETE, etc. The largest item is the cantaloupe, 5 x 9 in. (16) -

Provenance: Private collection of Former White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier. First Lady Rosalynn Carter hired Mesnier, who served 26 years under five presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. According to Creating the Sweet World of White House Desserts: A Pastry Chef's Secrets, Mesnier created stunning desserts for more than 40 queens, kings, princes, princesses and heads of state.

Literature: Roland Mesnier and Mark Ramsdell, Creating the Sweet World of White House Desserts: A Pastry Chef's Secrets (Washington, D.C.: The White House Historical Association, 2019), p. 52.