Ramekin is thought to come from a Dutch word for "toast" or the German for "little cream."




Name

Ramekin

Variant

Ramequin, Ramekin dish.

Pronounced

(ramə kin)[RAM-ih-kihn]ræməkin

Function

English Noun

Plural

Ramekins

Hypernym

A type of dish

Purpose

Cooking

Etymology

French Ramequin from Low German ramken, diminutive of cream, circa 1706. middle Dutch rammeken (cheese dish) dialect variant of rom (cream), similar to old English ream and German rahm. Ancient French cookbooks refer to ramekins as being garnished fried bread.


Meaning

1. A food mixture, (casserole) specifically a preparation of cheese, especially with breadcrumbs and/or eggs or unsweetened pastry baked on a mould or shell.

2. With a typical volume of 50-250 ml (2-8 oz), it is a small fireproof glass or earthenware individual dish similar in size and shape to a cup, or mould used for cooking or baking and serving sweet or savoury foods.

3. Formerly the name given to toasted cheese; now tarts filled with cream cheese.

4. A young child usually between the ages of 3 months and 11 years exhibiting a compulsion to force or "ram" their head into various objects and structures.

These days, a ramekin is generally regarded as a small single serve heatproof serving bowl used in the preparation or serving of various food dishes, designed to be put into hot ovens and to withstand high temperatures. They were originally made of ceramics but have also been made of glass or porcelain, commonly in a round shape with an angled exterior ridged surface. Ramekins have more lately been standardized to a size with a typical volume of 50-250 ml (2-8 ounce) and are now used for serving a variety of sweet and savoury foods, both entrée and desert.

They are also an attractive addition to the table for serving nuts,dips and other snacks. Because they are designed to hold a serving for just one person, they are usually sold in sets of four, six, or eight. Ramekins now are solid white, round, with a fluted texture covering the outside, and a small lip. Please bear in mind that whatever you ask for them on Internet auction sites, someone is still getting the same thing in an op shop for peanuts.

However, there are hundreds of decorative ramekins that came in a variety of shapes and sizes. They came in countless colours and finishes and many were made by our leading artists and ceramicists. My collection has ramekins with One handle only, fixed to the body at one point only. If it has no handle, it is a bowl. If it has two, it is a casserole dish. But the glory day of the Australian Studio Art ramekin is well and truly over. See some here, ask questions or leave answers.

P.S. Remember, just as real men don't eat quiche, real ramekins don't have lids or two handles. Also remember, two handles makes it a casserole dish. Also, please note If it aint got a handle, it's just a bowl.

P.P.S. To all you cretins who advertise your ramekins by associating them with "Eames" or "Eames Era". Get your hand off it, you are not kidding anyone. The Eames people have told me that they never made ramekins.

P.P.P.s To all the illiterates out there in cyberspace, just as there is no "I" in team, there is no "G" in Ramekin. I am the Rameking, they are ramekins.

If you have a set of Grandma's ramekins at the back of a kitchen cupboard, have a look through the site, maybe you will identify them. Thank-you for looking.

There are many of you out there that have knowledge of Australian pottery. Please let me know if you have anything that I can add to the notes. It is important to get the information recorded. You probably know something that nobody else does.

Please note that while your comments are most welcome, any that contain a link to another site will no longer be published.

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Friday, October 23, 2009

Jan Gluch



Designer
Frank Rock
Maker
Jan Gluch
Material
Ceramic
Manufacture
Moulded
Marks
“Jan Gluch” incised to base
Description
Fish Shaped earthenware. Clear glaze over brown highlights brushed on head and tail. Harlequin glaze to interior with 5mm over top edge. Good condition for age. One with chip to tail.
Number
B3 Incised to base
Production Date
Width
130mm 5.3/8”
Depth
37mm 1.1/2”
Length (with handle)
176mm 6.7/8”
Weight
250gm 9.0oz
Volume
230ml
Acquisition
Adelaide, South Australia,
October 2009




Jan Gluck was born in Denmark on the 19th of December 1919 to Polish parents.  He was part of the great post war migration, coming to Sydney, Australia in January 1957.  He arrived with wife Erna, born 12th February 1919, son Ivan born 17th December 1943 and daughter Bente born 18th February 1945.  They arrived in Sydney on that famous migrant ship the “Castel Felice”.  Jan had been a well-known potter in Denmark, having worked at the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain works. 

He worked at Pates Pottery at 61 Lakemba Road Belmore while living at the nearby migrant hostel at Villawood.  The original “Frank Rock” moulds for these fish ramekins were still at the Easton Pottery in Willoughby, Sydney, when Jan began renting it in 1958.  Henrietta Easton had stopped working there in 1957. 

Jan produced these ramekins with almost identical glazing to Frank, except for the hole in the tail.  He also did some work for Irene Kalmar during this time.  European migrants to both Sydney and Melbourne brought skills with them that enhanced the Australian art pottery scene.  Jan also had potteries at Brookvale and later Blaxland.  He also demonstrated pottery making in the early days of television in Australia.

Jan, having trained in Denmark was one of these talented artists from Europe who were employed by local manufacturers.  Some then went on to form their own potteries such as Kalmar Pottery (Australian Art Ceramic Products).  In 1960, Jan started his pottery school at Brookvale, another Sydney suburb.  It closed in 1967.  He died in Sydney at the age of 50 in 1969.  Son Ivan began in the plastics industry but later also became a talented and highly qualified potter who went on to re-establish his fathers’ pottery in 1973 at Blaxland in New South Wales.

Photographs copyright Commonwealth Government.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Sylha







Designer
Sylvia Halpern
Maker
Sylvia Halpern
Marks
Incised “Sylvia Halpern” to base
Description
Square bowl with rounded corners, slight taper towards base. Typical Sylha spoon shaped perforated handle. Off white matte glaze with brushed pale blue grey overglaze. Brushwork similar to Charles Wilton design. Lightly incised with cross hatched “A” to sides giving an oriental feel to the design.
Number
Production Date
Width
95mm 3.3/4”
Depth
55mm 2.1/4”
Length (with handle)
145mm 5.3/8”
Weight
255gm
Volume
245ml
Acquisition
St Vincent de Paul




Designer
Sylvia Halpern
Maker
Sylvia Halpern
Marks
Incised “Sylvia Halpern” to base
Description
Squared bowl with rounded corners. Burnt orange glaze with brown accent. Typical spoon shaped perforated handle
Number
Production Date
Width
113ml 4.7/8”
Depth
49mm 1.7/8”
Length (with handle)
155ml 6.3/16”
Weight
250gm 8.81.oz
Volume
300ml 10.14 floz
Acquisition



Designer
Sylvia Halpern
Maker
Sylvia Halpern
Marks
Incised “Sylvia Halpern” to base
Description
Squared terra cotta bowl with rounded corners. Plain off white glaze with blue grey patterned accent. Typical spoon shaped perforated handle
Number
Production Date
Width
113ml 4.7/8”
Depth
49mm 1.7/8”
Length (with handle)
155ml 6.3/16”
Weight
250gm 8.81.oz
Volume
300ml 10.14 fl oz
Acquisition



Designer
Sylvia Halpern
Maker
Sylvia Halpern
Marks
Incised “Sylvia Halpern” to base
Description
Squared terra cotta bowl with rounded corners. Plain off white glaze with plain brown banded brushed accent. Typical spoon shaped perforated handle
Number
Production Date
Width
113ml 4.7/8”
Depth
49mm 1.7/8”
Length (with handle)
155ml 6.3/16”
Weight
250gm 8.81.oz
Volume
300ml 10.14 fl oz
Acquisition



Designer
Artur Halpern
Maker
Artur Halpern
Marks
Incised “SYLHA” to base
Material
Slipware
Description
Glazed terra-cotta slip bowl with curved sides to unglazed foot ring. Brown gloss glaze with perforated spoon handle.
Condition
Good
Number
No number
Production Date
1970s
Width at rim
117mm
Width at Base
73mm
Depth
50mm
Length (with handle)
160mm
Weight
235gm
Volume
375mm
Acquisition
Purchase
Salvo Stores, Drouin
1st July 2014.
Rameking Reference Number
SYL

SYLHA was originally three people; Sylvia Halpern, Artek (Artur) Halpern, and Artur’s brother Stanislaw.

Sylvia Pauline Halpern (nee Black), was born in Kobe Japan on the 25th March 1918 and came to Australia in the late 1930s.  Artek (Artur) (1908-1976) arrived in Fremantle Australia aboard the “Asturias” on the 6th March 1947. His brother Stanislaw born Zolichev Poland (1919-1969) having arrived in Fremantle before the war aboard the “Otranto” on the 15th of August 1939.  The brothers were the sons of Eisig Halpern, engineer, and his wife Berta, née Gutt.  Having lost their family property during the Nazi occupation, the Halpern family subsequently filed for compensation along with other family members Leon and Edward Halpern for land in Lvov , then in Poland, now in the Ukraine, taken over by the authorities.  With the fall of the Iron Curtain, I wonder if they got it back?  Artur worked for RCA in South Melbourne for a time.

Sylha stands for Sylvia Halpern, the name given to their output by Artur.  Confusion may arise over Sylvia and Artur.  She was actually married to Stanislaw on the 28th August 1943 in Melbourne, years before Artur arrived.  She and Stanislaw were later divorced after having a daughter who predeceased them.  It was Artur and Sylvia who both made pottery using this brand. The Sylha Ceramics Studio was run by Artur and Sylvia and was originally located in the backyard at 1 Murrumbeena Parade, Murrumbeena before moving to Natalia Avenue, South Oakleigh in 1950 and then to Warrandyte in 1958 where Artur helped to found the Potters Cottage.  In South Oakleigh they employed two Italian potters and working with them, he learnt the skills of mould-making and slip-casting. Artur learned a lot from one of them, Costantino Bacchini (b: 9 September 1921) who arrived in Melbourne in 1952 under the Australian Italian Migration Agreement.  West-Australian potter Mike Kusnik also worked there in 1959. 

Artur had qualified as an Engineer in Czechoslovakia and in 1950, built the electric kiln they used.  Artur and Sylvia later moved to Dingley Dell, Warrandyte and joined the Potters Cottage (in 1961).  Sylvia Pauline Black had studied at RMIT under Klytie Pate and John Barnard Knight in 1944-45, and then later taught Artur and his brother, her former husband Stanislaw. Artur, an engineer built their first kiln (electric) and used Sylha as his brand. Several kilns were later built and in a relatively short time Artur and Sylvia was earning a full time living as potters, although it appears that Sylvia was the major partner with Arthur the marketing person.  Not one to do things by halves, Artur imported great quantities of glaze colours from England and Germany as these were unavailable in Australia at the time.

Like most makers of the day, their sales were made through department stores to whom they sold direct. Artur sold mainly through the Primrose Pottery Shop in Melbourne (see the post for them). Most makers did not advertise, leaving that up to the stores that sold their ramekins.  Sylvia signed hers “Sylvia Halpern”, not to be confused Stanislaw who signed his pieces “shalpern”. The family tradition continues with daughter Deborah also taking up pottery after being “apprenticed” to   Artur.

The five founding members of the Warrandyte Potters Cottage, from 1958 were Reg Preston, Phyllis Dunn, Artur Halpern, Gus McLaren and Charles Wilton; three other members joining in 1961 were Sylvia Halpern, Elsa Ardern and Kate Janeba. The only founding member who was not a potter was the architect John Hipwell who acted as the group's President. 

Potters Cottage was officially opened in 1958 by Dame Mabel Brookes, wife of the Governor of Victoria, Sir Dallas Brookes.  It was a small miner’s cottage in Research Road near the Warrandyte Bridge. It was then known as “Moonlight Cottage”, because the gold miner who built it in the 1890s worked in the Caledonia Gold Mine by day, and built his cottage by moonlight. By 1969 the Potters Cottage Co-op had built a restaurant where people were able to have their meals served on and in the pottery that was made by local craftspeople.

The co-operative was established for the purpose of making and selling handmade Australian pottery. The potters produced beautiful, functional studio pottery with attention to shape, decoration and glaze, bringing traditional craft together with modern. Whilst they shared certain principles in their work, the distinctive style and individuality of each artist is strongly evident. Their shared idealistic belief that modern, handmade pottery could enhance the quality of contemporary life was central to their philosophy.  The Co-op built a pottery school where people could learn to make their own pottery.

A group of students from this pottery school went on to form their own co-op, Stonehouse Potters in 1972, which is still flourishing. As well as the significant numbers of potters in the region, the Pottery Expo in Warrandyte each autumn highlights this important artistic tradition.

Stanislaw deserves his own story, but not here because he didn’t make ramekins.  Look him up, he is one of the great underrated artists of Australia.
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/halpern-stanislaw-stacha-10400


Sylvia

Artek (Artur)

Stanislaw

Walker Ceramics







Designer
Walker Ceramics
Maker
Walker Ceramics
Material
Ceramic
Manufacture
Mould Pressed
Marks
Walker Australia Ovenproof impressed to base
Description
Plain off white ceramic bowl with looped handle. Plain harlequin overglaze to exterior and interior. Good condition for age.
Number
Production Date
Width
115mm 4.1/2”
Depth
57mm 2.5/8”
Length (with handle)
168mm 6.5/8”
Weight
210gm 9.1/2oz
Volume
375ml
Acquisition


The clay soils in the Mitcham area encouraged brick and tile manufacturing and Edgar E Walker began “The Australian Brick, Tile & Tessellated Co” there in 1894. They also established an agency in Sydney in 1894, and in 1895 produced their first glazed ceramic wall tiles. In that year the company was re-formed as the Australian Tessellated Tile Co Ltd, as bricks were no longer an interest and began operations south-west of the Mitcham railway station.  His four sons, and later grandson Geoffrey Edgar Walker (b Mar 1917) carried on the company.  A sideline of the company was the commercial supply of clay.  This was eventually to become their core business, along with glazes. 

They survived the depression of the 1890s partly because it cleverly captured a share of the expanding market in sewerage pipes at this period, and it went on to diversify into ceramic mosaic pavements, glazed and coloured enameled wall and hearth tiles, faience, terra cotta work, roofing tiles, ridging finials and terra cotta roof ornaments, urinal stalls and some other sanitary ware, swimming pool gutters, commemorative plaques, majolica tiles, tiles with transfers on them, decorative bathroom tiles, tiles bearing kangaroos and emus, and so on.

The tessellated tiles were supplied to large numbers of churches, sometimes to patterns designed for them by architects such as A A Fritsch.  They almost had a monopoly on Government work in Victoria because of the policy of preference to local industry, and to a large degree in New South Wales, despite the development of rivals in Fowlers and Bakewells.  Amongst its more distinctive work was the Art Deco tiling of Coles Cafeteria, Bourke Street, Melbourne, and this period, the 1920s, was perhaps its heyday.  The floor tiles of the State Library of Victoria were also made by them.

In the 1930s there was an upsurge in the importation of Japanese, English and German tiles, and ceramic tile bodies from Johnsons, Richards and Pilkingtons, but the company gained a respite from the cessation of imports between 1939 and about 1946, due to the war.

Geoffrey had studied ceramics at Stoke Technical College but joined the Air Force in 1941 during World War II and Flight Lieutenant Walker was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in March 1945.  Discharged in November 1945, he returned to study after the war and worked in England and the US before returning to the family business after the war.  The company never regained the initiative; it went public in 1952, but was subsequently acquired by Rocla pipes, and finally was wound up.  Rocla are Australia’s leading manufacturer of concrete pipes.

Geoffrey and wife Constance then established Walker Ceramics in 1955.  They built a factory in Wantirna in Victoria.  They began with what they call “glazed porcelain functional ware.”  That included these ramekins.  The following comes from their website.

“then specialized floor tiles, electrical and acid-proof porcelains and salt glazed tiles. Despite a fire which destroyed the factory, the company went on to produce stoneware and porcelain bodies, often to potter's own specifications

During the 1960's, Walker Ceramics manufactured its first filter pressed white earthenware bodies for commercial potteries and art suppliers.  During this time, the Walker Ceramics' factory at Wantirna had become not only a place to source an increasing range of ceramic supplies and quality clay bodies and glazes, but a busy and lively meeting place for potters exchanging information.

By the mid 1970's more than 25 bodies were being produced and the market had expanded interstate and to New Zealand.  In the 1980's Walker Ceramics in association with Greg Daly,  produced the first series of instructional video tapes, detailing many different ceramic techniques presented in Greg's workshops. In 1982 David Walker completed an Honours degree in Ceramic Technology from  North Staffordshire Polytechnic in Stoke-on-Trent (UK) and returned to Australia to join the business.

Today they produce and sell in excess of 60 Ceramic bodies , 200 plus glazes , Liquid Opaque Underglazes, Design Colour Concentrates and all the tools and equipment the pottery market requires. As well as their own shop in Canberra the distribution network extends to all major centre's of Australia and Singapore, Indonesia and the United Kingdom - where the pottery community are appreciating the specialist qualities of Australian made and developed ceramic bodies, glazes and colours.

When Walker Ceramics moved to the Wedgwood factory in Croydon in 1988, they completely re-built and enlarged the clay production facility established at Wantirna. A new laboratory was equipped and specialist staff were trained for Research and Development and quality control. This began at the clay pits with testing and stockpiling and continued in the laboratory. All clays are continuously checked in the laboratory for plasticity, colour, shrinkage and porosity by gradient furnace firing and most importantly, the testing of bodies for expansion standards to ensure the matching of glazes.

In 2005 David Walker was approached by John Feeney of Sandisons in Queensland with an offer to continue the Feeney Clay tradition. A new company called Feeneys Clay was started then moved from the Wulkuraka site, completely re-furbished and upgraded and established in a "new" factory at West Ipswich. 

The business then went under further changes in 2008 - David Walker decided to continue the Walker tradition in Ceramics and purchased Walker Ceramics outright. A new manufacturing facility was set up for all the Walker White bodies when the business moved from Lusher Rd in Croydon. When the Sales and distribution factory was established in Croydon South the traditional fireclay based bodies were reformulated to be made at the new Feeneys Clay plant in West Ipswich Queensland. This range is now out in the marketplace and already gaining loyal support.

Between 1977 and 1996 Walker Ceramics presented a Walker Ceramic Award annually to Graduating Ceramics students from around Australia. This was exhibited at the prestigious Victorian Arts Centre from December to January each year and enabled the students to have an opportunity to exhibit their talents to a broad range of public from throughout Australia and overseas. The Walker Ceramic Award Collection of all the winners and carefully selected pieces from each years exhibition were on permanent display in the Walker ceramic Gallery in Croydon, Victoria until 2008 when David Walker put the entire collection on Permanent Loan to Manningham Art Gallery in Doncaster. This enables ceramists, students and the public at large to view this wonderful collection in this public space.”