These covered oblong-octagonal Hot Water Dishes have oblong tops. The tops do not fit into inset rims but slide around on the bottoms. First, hot water would be poured into the bottom through the spout, food placed on the dish and the top placed. Unlike other Hot Water Dishes without covers, these would keep the food warm for a longer time.
We call the three differently shaped open serving dishes with wide rims: "Open Vegetable Dishes". There are round, octagonal and oblong shapes. They will be shown separately. The round dishes we have seen range in diameter from 8 1/4" to 11". There may be smaller or larger ones, time will tell. Herbert Schiffer on page 174 of his 1975 book calls them "Pie Plates".
We call the three differently shaped open serving dishes with wide rims: "Open Vegetable Dishes". There are octagonal, round and oblong shapes. They will be shown separately. The octagonal dishes we have seen range in length from 9 1/4" to 12 5/8". There may be smaller or larger ones, time will tell.
Although quite common the very largest and the smallest rectangular vegetable dishes are considered scarce. Shown are 5 graduated covered rectangular vegetable dishes from 7 1/8" long to 11 3/8" long. All have domed tops that are crowned by pineapple knobs. Note that in the last picture the smaller knob is not only smaller but the shape has changed. Each top has indented corners that match the bottoms that are also indented. All are nicely decorated with the Canton scene and rain cloud border on the tops and bottoms.
Although most are very common, the very largest and the smallest oval or diamond shaped covered vegetable dishes are considered scarce. Shown are 7 graduated dishes in two rows from 7 1/2" long to 11 1/8" long. The two dishes shown together are the largest & smallest for contrast. All have pineapple knobs. Note that in the last picture the smaller knob is not only smaller and poorly done but the shape has changed compared to the knob from the largest vegetable dish. The bottoms' rims are mostly wavy and the tops' irregular shapes are inset into the bottoms. All are nicely decorated with the Canton scenes; however, rain cloud borders are only on the bottoms. The dish bottoms are unglazed and have 4 flowers around the outsides. Separated tops and bottoms rarely fit together and that is why we see so many topless bottoms and orphan tops.
This is a 3 piece, covered, quatrefoil (4 loop), vegetable serving dish. It consists of a bulbous sided base that has 2 twisted handles and two Canton scenes; the shallow liner that has only rim decoration and fits loosely on the base and has a slight raised edge to hold the top on; and the top that has the Canton scene and a pineapple knob with a hole in it. All 3 pieces have the quatrefoil shape.
These are 3 piece, covered, oval, vegetable serving dishes. They consist of the base that has 2 square handles and two Canton scenes; the deep liner that has a partial scene in the bottom and fits loosely on the base and has 4 holes to let air out and has a slight raised edge to hold the top on; and the top that loosely fits on the liner and has the Canton scene and a pineapple knob with a hole in it.
We call the three differently shaped open serving dishes with wide rims: "Open Vegetable Dishes". There are oblong, round, and octagonal shapes. They will be shown separately. The oblong dishes we have seen range in length from 8 3/4" to 11". There may be smaller or larger ones, time will tell.
These three dishes are single units unlike the Sweetmeat Stacks. They do not stack and they all have unglazed bottoms. All the bottoms have slight rims and in three places the rims are cut out producing three very low wide legs. They also differ in that they have flat, blue painted knobs not brass rings. Another difference is that they have rain cloud borders on the tops, the stack units do not. They were used to serve hot foods.
These sweetmeat stacks are in the Canton pattern absent the rain cloud border. We have not seen any with that feature and the set in Herbert Schiffer's book does not have the rain cloud border either. The covers have a brass ring that is bolted through a hole and secured by a screw inside. Each piece in the stack had twisted brass handles on the sides. Each piece fits into the one below and are easily stackable. What is interesting is that all the bottoms are glazed and none have a flat bottom which would indicate it should be the bottom piece. We would like to see more examples to confirm this and that these stacks are only found in 4 tiers. They were used to serve hot foods. The first and second pictures show the front and back decoration, the third picture shows the handle sides and the brass ring standing up and with the Campbell soup tin to give perspective. The last picture shows the individual pieces, front left shows a bottom and front right is the cover.
