French Country · Encyclopedia · Pottery and Earthenware
Alsatian cake moulds
Small glazed earthenware cake moulds that an Alsatian fiancé traditionally offered to his bride, rarely more than fifteen centimetres across. They appear from the sixteenth century, mostly in the Hanau country and the Sundgau.
French: moules à gâteaux · Alsace · glazed earthenware
At a glance
- Region: Alsace (Hanau country, Sundgau)
- Material: glazed earthenware
- Size: rarely over 15 cm across
- Glazes: light brown or green (oldest), orange-brown (later)
What they are
Alsatian bakers and housewives used earthenware moulds of many shapes. The small moulds in the book were engagement gifts from a fiancé to his bride. They are found as early as the sixteenth century.
Dating clues
The book offers practical clues. The oldest, sometimes marked with initials, have light brown or green glazes; more recent ones tend to be orange-brown. Production centered on the Hanau country and the Sundgau.
Collecting and displaying them
Check the inside surface for crazing and chips. Old moulds are best used for display rather than baking.
Hung in a group on a kitchen wall, Alsatian moulds make one of the most charming displays of French country pottery.
Source: Les Trésors de France: vieux métiers et objets d'autrefois (Éditions Rustica, Détours en France collection, 1995), pp. 130–135, with general background on the object. The book was published in 1995, so workshops, people and figures are described as they were then. Regional names and dates are given as the book records them; a style or a region of origin does not by itself date an individual piece.