Pickle dish
(c. 1770)
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
3.5 × 12.3 × 13.8 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Pickle dishes arose in the seventeenth century and became ubiquitous on the table during the eighteenth century. Their rise reflected changes in dining tastes and the increased practice of preserving fruits and vegetables, influenced by French cuisine. Used for serving both fruits and vegetables, these little dishes may have appeared on either the dinner or the dessert table. British porcelain, stoneware and earthenware manufacturers produced huge numbers of them, many imitating naturalistic forms such as leaves or scallop shells.