A sugarloaf was the traditional form, a tall gently-tapering cylinder with a conical top(External Link), in which refined sugar was exported from the Caribbean and eastern Brazil from the 17th to 19th centuries. » "...households bought their white sugar in tall, conical loaves, from which pieces were broken off with special iron sugar-cutters. Shaped something like very large heavy pliers with sharp blades attached to the cutting sides, these cutters had to be strong and tough, because the loav… (More on Sugarloaf)