The sweet-meat glass vessel intended to enhance the formal dining table by punctuating each successive course by the necessity of a whole, new suite of vessels being set before one’s guests. Dessert courses, in 18th and early 19th century Europe, were looked upon as the culminating event of an evening dinner party, designed not only to whet the appetite, but to spark conversation. An elegant “dessert supper” might be comprised of as many as twenty different dishes, and was seen as a test of creativity, cleverness and skill on the part of the hosting family. It follows that glass manufacturers devoted significant energies to crafting pretty vessels in which to display them. Given the rather fancy nature of the delights they were intended to contain, sweetmeats were rarely made from coloured glass; their contents would be sufficiently eye catching in its own right as to be best displayed in clear glass vessels. The glass sweet-meats vessels were suitably ornate with etched, cut or engraved patterns, and adorned fine finishes by gold enameling. They might also be augmented with lids or covers like a form of goblet.