The Rococo Shell Board

A white faience board, continental European and dating from around 1890 to 1920, pressed in a two-part mould with an arched crest, a moulded hanging eye and a fluted shell flanked by C-scrolls. The front is clear-glazed in warm cream and a deeply impressed cartouche on the back reads B / FS / 2, the last of these almost certainly a size number. Fine shallow scratching across the centre and a soft grey shading low down give it the timeworn character these plain white boards are wanted for, with the edge unbroken and the scroll shoulders still sharp.

Boards of this kind were made in graded sizes by German and French earthenware factories from the 1890s onward, and hung on a hook in the kitchen between uses. Most that survive are decorated, with blue florals or printed mottoes; the undecorated white version is by far the harder one to find.

Hung alone or grouped with other white pieces, it reads as sculpture rather than equipment.

Condition and patina consistent with age.
Approx. 11" long x 5⅞" wide
Approx. 28cm long x 15cm wide

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