![img_15-5.jpg](https://gazette-eu-west2.azureedge.net/media/39514/img_15-5.jpg?width=750&height=500&mode=max&updated=02%2f25%2f2019+11%3a44%3a14)
The lid of the box is inscribed The laboring bee that sucks of me such sweet, shows unto man, what things for him are meet.
Roundels such as this – used at the end of dinner for desserts and wordy entertainment – appear to have become widespread across society. Indeed, enough for John Donne to joke in 1669 that: “[Aesop’s] fables and fruit-trenchers teach as much.”
This set of 12, acquired from New York dealer James Robinson in 1987, sold at $16,000 (£12,300).