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Dish
unknown - Enlarge image
Dish
- Place of origin:
Hampshire, England (border, made)
Surrey, England (border, made) - Date:
16th century (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (production)
- Materials and Techniques:
Earthenware
- Credit Line:
Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology
- Museum number:
2027-1901
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 57b, case 1
Object Type
This earthenware disc with deep concentric channels has various possible agricultural uses, but that of a chicken feeder is the most plausible. Corn or even water would be held in the rings and not scattered into the farmyard mud with the wild pecking of the chicks.
Ownership & Use
Cheap functional objects like this one occasionally survive breakage and the passage of several centuries to become collectors' items. This piece was originally acquired by the Museum of Practical Geology, as an interesting example of the use of clay. It remains so today.Materials
This type of earthenware takes its name from the area where it was made, on the borders of Hampshire and Surrey. Rich deposits of white clay were found there.
