The Rameking

Worldwide Headquarters of the Australian Studio Art Ramekin, (and a few others) that piece of Australiana that has almost disappeared from our lives and tables. How many of you Baby Boomers have sat in front of a warm fire in winter, eating tinned spaghetti from a ramekin? In the period between the World Wars, and in the decades after, many famous artists made ramekins. They continued until cheap imports and copies almost killed them off in the 1970s. See them here in all their faded glory.

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

Name

Ramekin

Variant

Ramequin, Ramekin dish.

Pronounced

(ram′ə 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 They were originally made of ceramics but have also been made of glass or porcelain, commonly in a round shape with an angled exterior ridged surface.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.

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 1^st 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 25^th March 1918 and came to Australia in the late 1930s. Artek (Artur) (1908-1976) arrived in Fremantle Australia aboard the “Asturias” on the 6^th March 1947. His brother Stanislaw born Zolichev Poland (1919-1969) having arrived in Fremantle before the war aboard the “Otranto” on the 15^th 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 28^th 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

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Origin of the Australian Art Studio Ramekin

In the 19th Century, Ramequin Cases began to be used in cooking. These were paper cups, similar to those used for cupcakes or muffins. As time passed, people began to make them from clay and the spelling mostly changed from Ramequin to Ramekin. Ramequin still holds out in a few places, mainly in parts of the USA. The heyday of the Australian ramekin began in the 1930s.

Australian Art Studio pottery grew out of the 19th Century Arts and Crafts Movement. Following the upheaval of the First World War, potters found that many people still wanted hand made homewares. In Australia, many potters opened studios to meet this demand which intensified after the Second World War when returned ex services people set up their homes. It is the fallout from this ageing group that is now finding it’s way onto the market. Most of them may never be valuable, it is only their intrinsic value,but after another 100 years, who knows?

The Government, still in austerity mode encouraged manufacture of practical pottery post World War 2, by placing a higher tax on decorative wares, leading to potteriesmaking items that were decorative but had a practical use,thus avoiding the tax. This explains the absence of figurines that were the mainstay of many English potteries, and the proliferation of things like ramekins and vases.

Retraining programmes for returned and wounded soldiers at the end of the First and Second World Wars provided a workforce for the many potteries that flourished in Australia at the time. After the First World War, Bendigo Pottery needed a trained workforce to help make the flood of bricks for the housing in Melbourne. Towards the end of the Second, Guy Boyd worked at the Rehabilitation Hospital at Ingleburn, New South Wales, teaching pottery

Before take away food and plastics came to dominate the market, ceramics were used for a much wider range of products. The population explosion created by the Australian gold rush resulted in an increased demand for all kinds of locally manufactured goods. As the market diversified so too did the pottery, from commercial packaging to utility kitchenware. For the larger pottery’s, domestic items were, however, always a sideline to the main business of serving the building trade. For some, smaller potteries and individual potters, ramekins were the main income producer.

In 1957 the Australia-Japan Agreement on Commerce negotiated by Australian Trade Minister, John 'Black Jack' McEwan dealt a major blow to commercial potteries. This agreement opened the doors for mass- produced cheap Japanese ceramics to flood the Australian market. Many local commercial potteries were forced out of business by this competition, but a few managed to survive.

There are also the untold stories of some Eastern European migrants fleeing persecution who made a new life in post war Australia, thanks largely to ramekins. Because they made homewares and not art sculpture, their stories have not been adequately told. In some cases, this is the only place you will find part of their stories.

To help calculate the relative cost of these ramekins, I have here are a couple of items to compare the average weekly earnings for a man in Australia for the decades during which ramekins were popular; In 1940, it was $9.60, in 1950 it was $11.50. To convert to the old currency, divide by two.

Please Note

Comments on this blog are moderated BEFORE they appear on the site, and this takes time. There is often a delay between a comment being posted and it being approved. If you do not wish to have your comment posted, I will not post it.

The photographs form part of the description. Due to the light, my photos may show slight variances in colour and some shadows, distortions, reflections and highlights that should not be there. Also different computers and monitor settings will affect colours. My ramekins are all washed in warm water with mild detergent as this identifies any crazing or cracks that are very faint, or invisible to the naked eye. This ensures that the descriptions are more accurate.

Modern Ramekins

Ramekins are one of the few baking dishes that actually have their own name, setting them apart from generic sounding “cake pans” and “baking dishes.” Modern ramekins are small, cylindrical dishes that are used for baking individually sized dishes. They are ideal for baking small soufflés, as their straight sides make it easy for an egg white-based souffle mixture to rise up the sides of the dish and gain a lot of height, as well as for baking individual desserts, since they offer built-in portion control. Use them for little pudding cakes and baked egg-cups, and also for chilled desserts, such as panna cotta and chocolate mousse.

Ramekins can be made out of any heat-proof material; most modern ones are often made out of porcelain, pyrex or something similar. They can come in any size, but are most often found in 4-, 6- or 8-ounce volumes. Some will have very shallow sides, but most have a rise of about an inch or so, depending on the size of the dish itself.

Their small size actually makes them useful for applications outside of the oven. For instance, they’re often used when a cook is doing preparation work in the kitchen, separating chopped ingredients into individual dishes to be used at a later time. They’re also a nice way to present side servings of dressings, sauces and dips.

There are a small number of people who refer to ramekins as “pipkins”. I do not. Yes, there are similarities, but historically, a pipkin is a small earthenware or metal cooking pot used for cooking over direct heat. They had a tripod moulded into the base to stand clear of the fire. Examples of Romano-British pipkins are not uncommon. Late medieval and postmedieval pipkins had a hollow handle in order to insert a stick in it for manipulation. See the “Diana” ramekins for a recent homage to this. Many more recent ones have a spout at a right angle to the handle.

To me a ramekin without a handle is just a bowl or a dish.

It's simple really.

No handle-it's a bowl or a dish

One handle-it's a Ramekin

Two Handles-it's a Casserole dish

Copyright

Most of the images on this site are of my collection as are the comments. Other images and comments on this site are reproduced for the purposes of your information and interest only. I would be grateful for any information concerning Copyright and I will withdraw any items so described immediately on Copyright holder's request.

Please leave any other comments regarding anything on this blog. In the interests of accuracy, I will be pleased to have any information or comments you may have. There are many older people out there that have been involved in the Australian pottery world of the fifties and sixties. Get those arthritic fingers moving and put that knowledge out there. When you go, it goes with you.

Disclaimer

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The facts, figures, reviews, records, statistics, and other data presented on this blog is for suggestion and information purposes only. The Rameking is not responsible for any incorrect or incomplete information. The Rameking does not take responsibility for any user-reviews of websites inside its resource and reserves the right to keep or remove those. It is highly recommended that you review all the data for accuracy.

The Rameking

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

Monday, October 12, 2009

Sylha

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Blog Archive

Name	Ramekin
Variant	Ramequin, Ramekin dish.
Pronounced	(ram′ə 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.