3-039-060 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Royal Wedding Cake, 1871. Cake for the wedding of Princess Louise (fourth daughter of Queen Victoria) and her husband John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, made by Messrs. Bolland and Son, of Chester. '[It] was made in three tiers, placed on a gold stand, weighing about 2 cwt., and measuring at the base of the lower cake 2 ft. in diameter, and in height nearly 5 ft. The gold plateau had the Royal arms at four equal distances, with Cupids and flowers. The lower tier was ornamented with blue panels, baskets of flowers, fruit, and love-birds between a scroll-leaf, and medallions containing likenesses of the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise, with their respective coronets above. The second tier was festooned with the rose, shamrock, and thistle. The third tier was entirely of network, with cornucopias and shields, on which were the monograms of the bride and bridegroom. The whole was surmounted by a handsome vase of flowers, with silk banners edged with silver fringe, containing the armorial bearings of the Princess and of the Marquis. Each tier of the cake was bordered with trellis-work studded with pearls'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.