Sauce Boat thumbnail 1
Sauce Boat thumbnail 2
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Sauce Boat

ca. 1755-56 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
This sauce boat is one from a pair. The other is museum number C.665A-1935. Sauce boats became an essential item on the British dinner table around 1720, when French-style sauces became popular. English ceramic factories often copied silver sauce boats. Mid-18th-century sauce boats were open boat-shaped vessels with one or two pouring lips, but later ones were often tureen-shaped with a central foot. Both types could require an underdish to prevent spillage.

Use
The five main sauces introduced by the French were béchamel, brune/espagnol, tomate, mayonnaise and velout‚. Gravies made from roasted meat flavoured with wine and other ingredients were also popular in 18th-century Britain. Other sauces had a 'roux' base, made by combining butter or lard with flour and broth or milk.

Materials & Making
The body of this sauce boat was formed in a two-piece mould. These moulds were made from a master model of the shape supplied by a freelance modeller, in this case probably Aaron Wood (1717-1785). Freelance modellers like Wood first modelled the shape of the vessel in clay and then cast a set of hollow plaster moulds from their originals. They used these moulds to make fired stoneware versions of their designs, and sold these to pottery and porcelain factories.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Soft-paste porcelain painted with purple enamel and moulded
Brief description
Sauce boat of soft-paste porcelain painted with purple enamel and moulded, Longton Hall porcelain factory, Longton, ca. 1755-56
Physical description
Sauce boat of soft-paste porcelain painted with purple enamel. Moulded externally with leafy scrolls on a ground of various diaper-patterns in relief. Over the relief ornament is painted a swan and rushes on one side, and a view of a house beside a gate on the other. Inside is painted a small view of buildings and sprigs of flowers.
Dimensions
  • Height: 9.8cm
  • Width: 19.4cm
Dimensions checked: Registered Description; 01/01/1998 by KN
Gallery label
(27/03/2003)
British Galleries:
This sauce boat was slip cast in a plaster mould. The potter poured a mixture of clay and water into the mould. He then allowed the water to evaporate, leaving a layer of clay adhering to the mould. The vessel was then removed and fired. Staffordshire potters adopted this technique in about 1745.
Credit line
Bequeathed by Herbert Allen
Object history
One of a pair with C.665A-1935. Formerly in the Alfred Trapnell Collection.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Object Type
This sauce boat is one from a pair. The other is museum number C.665A-1935. Sauce boats became an essential item on the British dinner table around 1720, when French-style sauces became popular. English ceramic factories often copied silver sauce boats. Mid-18th-century sauce boats were open boat-shaped vessels with one or two pouring lips, but later ones were often tureen-shaped with a central foot. Both types could require an underdish to prevent spillage.

Use
The five main sauces introduced by the French were béchamel, brune/espagnol, tomate, mayonnaise and velout‚. Gravies made from roasted meat flavoured with wine and other ingredients were also popular in 18th-century Britain. Other sauces had a 'roux' base, made by combining butter or lard with flour and broth or milk.

Materials & Making
The body of this sauce boat was formed in a two-piece mould. These moulds were made from a master model of the shape supplied by a freelance modeller, in this case probably Aaron Wood (1717-1785). Freelance modellers like Wood first modelled the shape of the vessel in clay and then cast a set of hollow plaster moulds from their originals. They used these moulds to make fired stoneware versions of their designs, and sold these to pottery and porcelain factories.
Bibliographic references
  • For this sauceboat shape, see Nicholas Panes, British Porcelain Sauceboats of the 18th Century (2009), no. 250, where dated ca. 1755-56
  • Young, Hilary, 'The Birth of the Ceramic Designer' in Walford, Tom and Hilary Young British Ceramic Design, 1600-2002: Papers presented at the colloquium celebrating the 75th anniversary of the English Ceramic Circle, 1927-2002. 2003, p. 19, fig. 8
Collection
Accession number
C.665-1935

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest