Mansuette
PearMansuette
Origin / History
A very old variety, described in 1660; Downing says it was then, as now, considered one of the best of cooking pears. Hedrick gives the origin as unknown. Hedrick cites Duhamel, Traité des Arbres Fruitiers (1768, vol. 2, p. 220, pl. LVIII, fig. 1), Hogg (1884, under the name Solitaire) and Christ (1817). Downing heads his entry Angobert, with Mansuette among the names following. Hedrick enters Angobert separately, citing Duhamel (1768, as A Gobert), Leroy (1867) and Downing (1869). Of Angobert Hedrick records that toward the end of the eighteenth century, 1780-83, Henri Manger claimed that he had identified it with the Signina or Testacea of Columella and Pliny.
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size: Large to very large; large (Thomas, Hedrick), large or very large (Downing). Very large in Hedrick's Angobert entry.
Form: Irregular, obtuse; pyriform to obovate. Short pyriform (Thomas); irregular obtuse pyriform (Downing); long-obovate (Hedrick). Hedrick's Angobert entry: variable but generally obovate-pyriform, distorted, enlarged around the calyx end.
Stem: Not described in source.
Cavity: Not described in source.
Calyx: Not described in source.
Basin: Not described in source.
Skin: Greenish yellow (Downing, Thomas); pale green, spotted with brown and much covered with the same color on the shaded side, tinged with red on the side exposed to the sun (Hedrick). Hedrick's Angobert entry: dull yellow, washed with red on the side of the sun.
Dots: Brown spots, merging into a brown covering on the shaded side (Hedrick). Dotted and streaked with fawn (Hedrick, Angobert entry).
Flesh and flavor: Flesh white, half melting (Downing) or semi-melting (Hedrick), moderately fine, inclined to grow soft, juicy. Somewhat astringent (Downing); astringent (Thomas); pleasantly acid and well flavored (Hedrick). Hedrick's Angobert entry: flesh white, coarse, juicy, sweet, with a rather agreeable after-flavor of musk; "third for the table but first for the kitchen."
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
September to October. September (Downing, Thomas); September and October (Hedrick).
Uses
A cooking pear: "one of the best of cooking Pears" (Downing); baking (Thomas). Hedrick calls it a dessert pear; in his Angobert entry it is third for the table but first for the kitchen.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1849) from Massachusetts
- Hovey & Co. , Cambridge , Massachusetts — 1849
View original book sources (3)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Angobert. Mansuette. Gros Angobert. Beurre de Semur. Dagobert. Solitaire. De Sainte Catherine. Double Mansuette. A. Gobert. A very old variety, described in 1660, and then, as now, considered one of the best of cooking Pears. Fruit large, or very large, irregular obtuse pyriform, greenish yellow. Flesh half melting, juicy, somewhat astringent. A cooking pear. September.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Mansuette. Large, short pyriform, greenish-yellow; juicy, astringent—baking. September.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Mansuette.
i. Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:220, Pl. LVIII, fig. i. 1768. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 611. 1884. Solitaire. 3. Christ Handb. 534. 1817.
Origin unknown. Fruit large, long-obovate, irregular, obtuse, pale green, spotted with brown and much covered with the same color on the shaded side, and tinged with red on the side exposed to the sun; flesh white, semi-melting, moderately fine, inclined to grow soft, juicy, pleasantly acid and well flavored; a dessert pear; Sept. and Oct.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Angobert", pp. 429–429]
Angobert. 1. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:142, fig. 1867. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 661. 1869. A Gobert. 3. Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:191. 1768. Toward the end of the eighteenth century, 1780-83, Henri Manger claimed that he had identified the Angobert with the Signina or Testacea of Columella and Pliny. Fruit very large, variable but generally obovate-pyriform, distorted, enlarged around the calyx end, dull yellow, dotted and streaked with fawn, washed with red on the side of the sun; flesh white, coarse, juicy, sweet, having a rather agreeable after-flavor of musk; third for the table but first for the kitchen.