Stand for sweetmeat dishes

Dateca. 1760

MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delft / delftware)

DimensionsDIAM: 8 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1965-81,A

DescriptionDiamond-shaped tray with fluted sides and small foot ring following contour of sides; five small dishes fit within the tray, the four exterior ones fan-shaped, the central one a smaller fluted diamond. Bluish tin glaze decorated in blue on the tray, a Chinese scene of a man holding a bird and a woman looking out a window; in the well of each dish, sprays of peony and bamboo.
Label TextMost sweetmeat dishes were made in one piece, but a few like this one were composed of individual pieces. In Josiah Wedgwood's 1774 catalog of creamware forms, he lists a "Large Dish, which contains five small pieces a, b, c, for Pickles of different kinds." An example in the Bristol Museum is missing the bottom tray or stand, but its five small dishes are intact, and three other examples are missing their small central dishes but retain their trays and four outer dishes. The Chinese design on this tray is a copy of that on a Chinese porcelain plate. The Liverpool attribution is based on the decoration.
InscribedNo
MarkingsNo
ProvenanceF. H. Garner
Tilley & Co., London