sauceboat

metalwork

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Related Topics:: tableware

See all related content

sauceboat, metal or pottery bowl with a lip and handle, used for holding and serving sauces. The earliest type of silver sauceboat, introduced during the second decade of the 18th century, had a protuberant lip at either end, two central scroll handles, and a molded base. By the 1740s the predominantly boat-shaped vessel was standing on three or four cast feet and had a single lip and handle. Ornament tended to be restricted to the handle, feet, and rim. A few extravagant exceptions to this emerged in mid-century under the influence of the Rococo style. With the advent of Neoclassicism, the sauceboat was to a certain extent replaced by the sauce tureen, but it regained its place among domestic silver in the 19th century.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.