A sauce boat, gravy boat, or saucière is a low jug or

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

with a handle in which

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

gravy Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of sa ...

is served. The typical shape is considered

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

-like, hence the name. It often sits on a matching saucer, sometimes attached to the pitcher, to catch dripping sauce. Some gravy boats also function as gravy separators, with a spout that pours from the bottom of the container, thus leaving any surface-floating fat in the container.

History

While some vessels have been identified as being used for sauces since ancient times, the modern fashion for sauce boats probably derived from fashion in the late 17th century French court. Silver sauce boats with two handles and two spouts were reported as early as 1690 and appear to have developed in response to the new and original ''

nouvelle cuisine ''Nouvelle cuisine'' (; ) is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased e ...

''. French fashion was highly influential in 18th century England where such sauce boats were copied in English silver, and from the 1740s, in English

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

. Sauceboats became an important product for English porcelain factories, particularly as

Chinese export porcelain Chinese export porcelain includes a wide range of Chinese porcelain that was made (almost) exclusively for export to Europe and later to North America between the 16th and the 20th century. Whether wares made for non-Western markets are covered b ...

wares were uninspiring. Consequently, the earliest factories, such as Bow,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, Limehouse, Lunds Bristol, and

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, all had sauce boats in their product range. During the second half of the 18th century, the elaborate early porcelain sauce boat designs were simplified in response to the growing market among the aspiring middle classes. A wide variety of designs were produced and the influence of silver diminished somewhat. Few of the early factories manufactured full dinner services, but the new

creamware Creamware is a cream-coloured refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body, known in France as '' faïence fine'', in the Netherlands as ''Engels porselein'', and in Italy as ''terraglia inglese''.Osborne, 140 It was created about 175 ...

, developed by

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

, lent itself to the manufacture of large plates, always difficult in early porcelain. As a result, the sauce boat became part of a dinner service, which generally it remains today.

History

References

Further reading