NINE-PIECE AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN PEWTER, CITRUS AND TROPICAL FRUIT SORBET MOLDS, PROBABLY LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY, FOR QUEEN SIRIKIT OF THAILAND AND PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

NINE-PIECE AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN PEWTER, CITRUS AND TROPICAL FRUIT SORBET MOLDS, PROBABLY LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY, FOR QUEEN SIRIKIT OF THAILAND AND PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN The antique lead pewter citrus and tropical molds are in the form of 3 apples, 1 orange, 3 bananas, and 2 lemons. The fruit sorbet molds were served to Ronald Reagan and Queen Sirikit in 1985 and have various makers' marks titled S & CO, E & CO NY, Made in France (9) - h:2.75 w:3 in.

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), pp. 197-198.