Description: 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.

To use, hot water is put in the base and the liner is placed in the base thus the food is kept warm along with the top being on. The bases are unglazed as are the points where the liners contact the bases.

This 3 piece vegetable serving dish differs from the other 3 piece, quatrefoil shaped, twisted handled vegetable dish in several ways: 1) all 3 pieces are oval shaped not quatrefoil 2) liner has 4 air holes not no holes 3) liner has inside bottom decoration, the other does not 4) this liner is deep not shallow 5) base has square handles not twisted ones. Otherwise, they are both alike in having pineapple knobs, same top and base decoration (2 Canton scenes).

We would like to stress when buying either type of these 3 piece vegetable dishes that they all have the proper components and they are of proper size. To prove the point, I have 2 other 3 piece examples of the quatrefoil dishes that have the proper bases but one has an oversize liner, the other example has a wrong shaped top and a liner that is also wrong. So, beware you are not offered a wrongly assembled 3 piece set. Accordingly, a proper 3 piece set is very rare and expensive and very hard to find in perfect condition.