Costermonger Costermonger Costermonger, coster, or costard is a street seller of fruit and vegetables, in London and other British towns. The term is derived from the words "costard" (a now extinct medieval variety of large, ribbed apple) and "monger" (seller), and later came to be used to describe hawkers in general. Some historians have pointed out that a hierarchy existed within the costermonger class and that while costermongers sold from a handcart or animal-drawn cart, mere hawkers carried their wares in a basket. Costermongers met a need for rapid food distribution from the wholesale markets (e.g., in London; Smithfield for meat,
Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach dish serves as the bridge of the nose, and the dish's foot doubles as the chin. The eyes of the large face, however, are formed by "background" objects lying on the sand at the edge of the strand — deeper in the image — rather than sharing form with the fruit dish. The face's right eye is what appears to be a shell, and the face's left eye a piece of a ship or boat. In the middle ground of the scene, where the sand of the beach appears to end, a small version of the fruit dish can be