The serene symmetry and light, elegant decoration of these boat-shaped fruit bowls, representative of goldsmith Thomas Heming's best work for the crown, make a striking contrast to the Rococo style popular at the time. The arms engraved in the cartouches placed at the center of each side are those of James, second earl of Fife, and his wife, Lady Dorothea Sinclair. They were married in the year the bowls were made, and thus were probably a wedding gift.