Ice Pail thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Ice Pail

1784-85 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Ice cream of the type widely eaten today was first made in Italy. It was then introduced to the French court in the 17th century, and its manufacture thereafter spread through much of western Europe. It was made by beating cream in a container that had been immersed into natural ice, the freezing properties of which had been enhanced by the addition of salt or saltpetre. It could be served in a pail like this one, which has a liner to contain the ice cream and separate it from the ice below that kept it cold; the hollow cover would also be packed with ice.

Because of the cost and prestige of the food, ice pails were an important feature of the 18th-century dessert table, and they were among the most prestigious products of the English porcelain factories. They were always made and used in pairs, but rarely survive together and complete with their liners, as here.

This pair was made at the Derby porcelain factory, and is painted with a bold Japanese pattern that appears as no 3 in the Derby ‘plate pattern’ book at Derby Museum and Art Gallery and which often occurs with a Chinese-style seal mark (a combination found on V&A plates 3368-1853 and C.339-1922, and dessert tureen C.1070-1924). These pieces, however, have the crown, D, and crossed batons mark introduced mid-1784, but no pattern number or painter’s number, which suggests a date of 1784-5. The factory mark is painted in a distinctive way that has been identified with the painter Thomas Soare.


Object details

Object type
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Ice Pail
  • Liner
  • Cover
Materials and techniques
Soft-paste porcelain, painted in underglaze blue, enamels and gilded
Brief description
One of a pair of ice-cream pails with liners and covers, soft-paste porcelain, painted in enamels and gilded with 'Japanese' pattern, Derby porcelain factory, probably 1784-5
Physical description
Ice cream pail, with cover and liner, of soft-paste porcelain. The pail is bucket-shaped and has scrolled scallop shell handles at the sides; the cover has a ring handle formed of scrolled acanthus; and the liner is u-shaped and forms a false bottom (beneath which ice would be packed). The exterior is painted in underglaze blue, enamels and gilded with a design derived from Japanese porcelain featuring a leaping animal and floral motifs in lobed cartouches.
Dimensions
  • Height: 24.3cm
  • Width: 24.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
Crown over D with crossed batons and six dots (factory mark painted in puce (see References))
Credit line
Given by Frank and Patricia Herrmann
Object history
From the Jeanne Zorensky Collection
Summary
Ice cream of the type widely eaten today was first made in Italy. It was then introduced to the French court in the 17th century, and its manufacture thereafter spread through much of western Europe. It was made by beating cream in a container that had been immersed into natural ice, the freezing properties of which had been enhanced by the addition of salt or saltpetre. It could be served in a pail like this one, which has a liner to contain the ice cream and separate it from the ice below that kept it cold; the hollow cover would also be packed with ice.

Because of the cost and prestige of the food, ice pails were an important feature of the 18th-century dessert table, and they were among the most prestigious products of the English porcelain factories. They were always made and used in pairs, but rarely survive together and complete with their liners, as here.

This pair was made at the Derby porcelain factory, and is painted with a bold Japanese pattern that appears as no 3 in the Derby ‘plate pattern’ book at Derby Museum and Art Gallery and which often occurs with a Chinese-style seal mark (a combination found on V&A plates 3368-1853 and C.339-1922, and dessert tureen C.1070-1924). These pieces, however, have the crown, D, and crossed batons mark introduced mid-1784, but no pattern number or painter’s number, which suggests a date of 1784-5. The factory mark is painted in a distinctive way that has been identified with the painter Thomas Soare.
Bibliographic reference
Stephen Mitchell, The Marks on Chelsea-Derby and Early Crossed-Batons Useful Wares, 2007, passim
Collection
Accession number
C.49:1 to 3-2015

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Record createdJune 13, 2014
Record URL
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