Description:
English delft, small leaf-shaped sweetmeat or pickle dish with a single compartment, decorated in blue. These dishes were used to serve accompaniments to the meal courses, such as pickled vegatables or sweetmeats, preserves, candies, and nuts. Most were made in one piece, with from one to six compartments; but others could be made of dishes that nested together. Newspaper advertisements and account books entries often referred to these smaller dishes as pickle leaves, shells, or boats. Dishes in fanciful shapes such as leaves, hearts, and shells became popular during the mid-eighteenth century. A number of British porcelain factories made pickle or sweetmeat dishes based on the form of a shell or leaf, and cheaper delftware copies soon followed. William Ellery of Hartford advertised "one, two, and three leav'd pickle stands, very beautiful" costing from 1 to 3 shillings. Small trays in a variety of shapes appear in pattern books from the Leeds (1794), Castleford (1796), Whitehead (1798), and Don (1807) factories, where they are labeled "pickle leaves or shells." The widespread adoption of these pickle dishes reflects a mid-18th-century change in dining fashion with the interest in pickled fruits and vegetables inspired by French cuisine. Surviving white salt-glazed stoneware examples far outnumber those in delft. This dish has a scalloped edge with two pointed ends and a flat base. The well is decorated with a landscape scene with a man fishing, two people in a punt, small building, running fence, trees, foliage, rocks, and two flocks of birds flying overhead.
Label Text:
Pickle leaves were filled with savory pickles during first or second course of dinner or could contain sweetmeats and be incorporated into the dessert service.
Subjects:
Pottery; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+65.006 |
