Majolica Ice Cream Services

Shorter & Boulton Fan ice cream set

One of the things in my personal majolica collection that I've owned the longest is an ice cream service made by Wedgwood in the Fan pattern. There are ten plates plus platter all with the same decoration and dating to the same year. When I first started buying majolica back in the 1980's complete ice cream services like this were a fairly common thing to come across. I can't say that’s true any more as most of these ice cream services were broken up by their owners to maximize sales profit. It's actually quite a shame, but it's still possible to assemble a beautiful service today through diligence and selective collecting.

One of the things that I think surprises new majolica collectors is that most of these platters and ice cream plates are flat plates and not rounded bowels the way we eat ice cream today. To understand this, one needs to understand how ice cream was prepared for service during the Victorian age. In this time before modern refrigeration, ice cream was generally sold and prepared by small neighborhood shops. Ice cream was commonly sold as small balls, neatly stacked together. It was also available in a variety of different shapes, molded to entice the eye. These molds were also used by home chefs to add elegance to their table. Many of these pewter ice cream molds have survived to today and are eagerly collected by enthusiasts.

This type of display of ice cream lent itself best to service on flat services, hence the flat form of Victorian ice cream services.

Holdcroft majolica ice cream dish

Holdcroft majolica platter

Holdcroft majolica ice cream set

Fielding majolica Fan ice cream tray

Fielding majolica ice cream tray

Fielding majolica ice cream set

Wedgwood majolica ice cream tray

Wedgwood majolica ice cream set. The dishes shown don't actually go with 

the ice cream platter shown here. They are meant to match the 

Wedgwood strawberry platter shown here but they have been matched up

by an enterprising collector. The correct ice cream dish is the one shown below.

Wedgwood majolica ice cream dish

Unattributed ice cream service

Wedgwood majolica seal ice dream tray

Wedgwood Argenta majolica peacock strawberry or ice cream set

Adams & Bromley majolica dessert or ice cream set

Holdcroft majolica pond lily ice cream tray

Holdcroft majolica ice cream dishes

Wedgwood and Holdcroft probably made more ice cream services than any of the other major potters but the all the major potteries, including the little Etruscan Works in the US, made a contribution to the form.

Etruscan Majolica individual Shell ice cream dish

Etruscan Majolica Shell nappy aka the ice cream bowl

The simplicity of many of these platters have kept the prices fairly reasonable with many selling for under $250 and individual plates selling for $50-$75, so they can be assembled over time with rather little pain to your pocketbook.

Sunflower Majolica

I have mentioned before in this blog the influence of the Aesthetic Movement on the majolica designs of American and English majolica.

The lily and the sunflower both were representative of the movement but the sunflower in particular has always been the flower most people associate with it. More than anyone else, Oscar Wilde is responsible for the popularity of the movement in both the US and in Great Britain as can be see by some of the decorative arts from the period.

Oscar Wilde

Royal Worcester Porcelain Co. Oscar Wilde teapot

Oscar Wilde trade card

The "flowering" of the Aesthetic Movement largely took place during the 1880's. a time of prodigious majolica manufacture. Because of this, the sunflower has appeared all over many majolica designs. The relationship between the flower and Oscar Wilde was so strong in fact that "Oscar Wilde" was the name commonly used in the Etruscan Works when referring to pieces in their Sunflower line.

Samuel Lear Sunflower oyster plate

Etruscan Majolica Sunflower syrup

Samuel Lear majolica Sunflower jug

Wardle majolica Sunflower mustache cup

Etruscan Majolica Sunflower pitcher

Samuel Lear majolica Sunflower cuspidor

Wardle majolica Sunflower cuspidor

Wedgwood majolica sunflower plate

Wedgwood majolica sunflower platter

Minton majolica sunflower tray

Wedgwood majolica umbrella stand

Fielding majolica umbrella stand

George Jones majolica sunflower jug

Wardle majolica Sunflower teapot

Wardle majolica Sunflower jug

Wardle majolica sunflower basket

Tenuous Majolica sunflower butt

Villeroy & Boch majolica sunflower dessert stand

Wedgwood Aesthetic Movement majolica jug

Massier majolica sunflower wall pocket

Wedgwood majolica sunflower butter dish

Combined with the country look so popular in decoration today, these pieces are more popular than ever and generally bring prices higher than other flower-related items.