Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Wedgwood, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent (manufacturer)
Fish trowel (c. 1790)
earthenware
5.3 × 11.4 × 29.5 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Fish trowel
(c. 1790)
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
5.3 × 11.4 × 29.5 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
The eighteenth century saw the development of specialised pieces of cutlery intended for the serving of particular foods. This earthenware spatula was intended for the serving of fish, and the choice of material for such an implement was intentional. Fish was normally served with lemon juice, an acid that caused the discolouration of steel implements, in turn transmitting a metallic taste to the food. Ceramic or silver implements, unaffected by food acids, avoided such problems.