Chafing dish with design by Mabel Lucie Attwell, England, 1930s

White porcelain circular dish with a blue band around the rim. On the dish is a Mabel Lucie Attwell design depicting a girl holiding a doll and a golly, looking at three green pixies playing around a toadstool. The dish is signed by Mabel Lucie Attwell by the toadstool and above the image is the following text, printed in brown: 'Fairy folk with tiny wings / Playing all over / The plates and things!'. The porcelain dish is set into an aluminium dish with two side handles and a funnel at the top edge. The funnel has a screw top with a small hole in the top. Hot water is poured through this into the outer dish to keep the main dish warm.

Given by Mrs P. Massey-Stewart and Mrs A. Dutot

The original golliwog was a central character in a series of books by Bertha and Florence Upton published between 1895 and 1909. Florence, the illustrator of the stories, based the golliwog on a doll she had acquired in the US in the 1880s. The appearance of this doll was influenced by the Blackface performance tradition. From the late 19th century until the 1960s, the golliwog flourished as a toy. Its image featured on toys, games, textiles and ceramics and was also used by food companies. From the 1970s the golliwog’s popularity began to wane as many British people felt that it promoted racial stereotypes.

The dish was used by the donors, two sisters, during their childhood.

MISC.407-1981