French Country · Encyclopedia · Pottery and Earthenware
Plate warmer
A terracotta warmer from the Quercy, filled with embers to keep a plate of soup hot. Four small studs above the rim kept the plate from touching the fire, and decorative handles complete it.
French: chauffe-plats · Quercy · terracotta
At a glance
- Region: Quercy
- Material: terracotta
- Fuel: embers (some versions held boiling water)
- Detail: four studs to hold the plate above the coals
What it is
A small terracotta vessel filled with embers, on which a plate rested. Four small studs projecting above the rim held the plate just clear of the fire.
Variants
The book notes that other warmers took the same shape but were filled with boiling water instead of embers. The example shown has decorative handles.
Collecting and using one today
Check for cracks caused by heat. Terracotta that held embers often shows blackening inside, a welcome sign of use.
A plate warmer makes an attractive cachepot or a container for candles on a table.
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.