Also Called :
Vegetable Dishes, Covered Serving Dishes, Covered Vegetable Dishes, Curry Dishes
Rarity :
Very Rare
Age :
Early to Mid 19th Century
Price Range :
$2,500.-$3,000. (all 3 proper pieces)
Dimensions :
Base: 7 1/4″ wide x 10 1/2″ long (including handles) x 2 1/8″ high
Liner: 7 1/2″ wide x 9 3/8″ long x 1 3/8″ high
Top: 7 1/8″ wide x 9″ long x 2″ high
Total Height: 4 3/8″
Weight :
Total Weight: 3 lbs. 14 oz.; Base: 1 lb. 10 oz.; Liner: 1 lb. 4 oz.; Top: 1 lb.
Provenance :
Carl Nordblom Auction, Cambridge, MA-1990
Availability :
ALL SOLD
Description: 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.
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, oval, square handled vegetable dish in several ways: 1) all 3 pieces are quatrefoil shaped not oval 2) liner does not have 4 air holes 3) liner does not have inside bottom decoration 4) liner is shallow not deep 5) base has twisted handles not square handles. 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 of these 3 piece vegetable dishes that they have the proper components and they are of proper size. To prove the point, we have 2 other 3 piece examples 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 (these two sets are pictured in the last picture). 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.
Note: One of the above wrongly assembled examples (the base) is the same size as the first pictured set and the other wrong set’s base is longer in length by 1 1/2″ so, larger sets were made.
A somewhat similar Nanking example with twisted handles is shown on page 30 of Jane Wilson’s 1977 booklet. Herbert Schiffer has two somewhat similar Fitzhugh examples with twisted handles on page 251 of his 1975 book. Neither author shows a Canton example.