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 They were originally made of ceramics but have also been made of glass or porcelain, commonly in a round shape with an angled exterior ridged surface.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

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Colourware Pottery

Designer	Hans Wright
Maker	Colourware Pottery
Marks	Incised “Colourware Pottery” to base
Material	Glazed slip lustre glaze
Description	Shallow rounded bowl angled inwards at top. Unglazed footring with lustre glaze to outside and spoon handle angled upwards form centre of bowl body. Matte cream glaze to interior. Banded brown glaze to exterior. Slight overspray of lustre glaze to interior rim of bowl.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	Late 1980s
Width at rim	110mm
Width at Base	70mm
Depth	50mm
Length (with handle)	165mm
Weight	220gm
Volume	375ml
Acquisition	Salvo stores Brandon Park 29^th May 2013.
Rameking Reference Number	COL 001-002

Colourware Pottery seems to be a brief continuation of Hanstan. Hanstan Studio Pty Ltd ceased as a company on the 8^th of January 1988. Like “Diana” producing later versions (Dana) and Nefertiti, or someone from Southern Aurora, Hanstan, or a person associated with the works, continued with the production of a limited range of pottery. This lustreware came in a small variety of patterns from ashtrays to kitchen canisters. “Lustre” is an effect produced by a second (reduction) firing of the body with a metallic oxide glaze (bismuth oxide) in a slightly cooler kiln. This gives the product a metallic gold, silver or bronze appearance. The design, size and shape of these ramekins is identical to those made by Hanstan, only the glaze and signature are different.

Hanstan were mostly made on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula,in the 1960s to the early 90s. I have been told that their pottery was located at Mornington in the Industrial area. Starting in 1962, most of their considerable output was domestic or kitchenware so they don't appear on the radar of most of the trendy wanker collectors. Have a look in any op shop and there is sure to be at least one piece.

Hanstan output was originally mostly marked with a large incised signature "Hanstan" to the base. Other later works had either a black stamp or a black and gold sticker. These were used after Hanstan moved from hand painting to transfer designs. These are incised “Colourware Pottery” in a similar script.

Hanstan on the left, Colourware Pottery to the right

Hanstan refers to Hans Wright and Stan Burrage. The partnership apparently didn’t last long as I was told the two had a falling out in the early sixties with Hans and Mrs Wright continuing the pottery. Hans Earle Wright was a salesman turned potter turned archer. He was born in the mid 1930s and completed an art course at the Melbourne Technical College, now RMIT. He started out helping a fellow student make jewellery. He married Patricia, a nurse and then moved from Sandringham to Mount Eliza.

Hans had more than one string to his bow, being Australia's best archer, he won about fifteen Australian Championships. Hans would train archers in the factory, believing that the noise of the pottery would make the archers less likely to be distracted in competition. Good for the archers but somewhat off putting for the potters. There is no record of anyone being hit by an arrow. I wonder what the Health and Safety people today would make of this. Mrs Wright would manage the pottery when Hans went off to the many archery competitions he took part in.

For two years from age 19 to 21 well known former graffiti artist Arjuna Watson worked at Hanstan Pottery Studio, hand-painting floral Christopher Vine designs. (Afterwards he makes himself a promise: “I will never paint an iris again”.) Christopher vine would come to the pottery whenever he came up with new lines. Thanks AJ for the info. If anyone has more information about this pottery, I would be pleased to hear from you. I know you are still out there Hans.

The Stan was Stanley Leonard Scud Burrage who was born in Robinvale Victoria on the 7^thof December 1935 and was christened at Traralgon, Victoria one year later. Like Hans, he originally worked in sales but together they began Hanstan pottery at his parents, George and Elsie (Weymouth) Burrage’ home and poultry farm on Springvale road, Springvale, Victoria in 1962.

The partnership dissolved in 1964 and Hans then continued the business in Mornington, Stan and wife Helen went overseas for two years then they moved to the bayside suburb of Mentone, where they ran a hardware shop in Hampton for two years. then back to Vinifera near Swan Hill to be an Orchardist betweenn 1972 to 75. Later, in the early 1980s, Stan worked as a contractor in Dingley, Victoria. Stan died too young at the age of 52 in Montrose Victoria on the 1st of March 1987

The Wrights lived in Mount Eliza and worked in the neighbouring town of Mornington. Hans is reputed to have been a bit of a workaholic. The pottery was run as a fully commercial operation, producing mainly domestic wares. Staff served a form of "apprenticeship" doing routine process work before graduating to more involved work. Starting in the sanding booth, cleaning up the bodies from the moulds before moving on to glazing, then if you were good enough, or had lasted the distance, decorating.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Fry, Stephen Fry?

Designer	Stephen Fry?
Maker	Stephen Fry?
Marks	Painted initials “SF” to base
Material	Glazed earthenware clay
Description	Heavy rounded sided bowl with large open-ended trumpet handle angled upward from top side of bowl. Flat base.
Condition	Very Good, small chip to inside of handle on one ramekin.
Number	No number
Production Date	Early 1980s
Width at rim	125mm
Width at Base	60mm
Depth	50mm
Length (with handle)	177mm
Weight
Volume
Acquisition	Purchase Salvos Store, Hastings 21^st May 2013
Rameking Reference Number	STF 001-005

Well, another milestone, one hundred and fifty posts. These are a bit of a mystery. The nearest I can come to identifying these is Stephen Fry. No, not that Stephen Fry. I think these are an early example of the work of this Stephen Fry who trained at the Salisbury College of Advanced Education in South Australia. The initials on the base seem to be very close to those of his later pre-ant stamp. He was a resident potter at the Cransley Craft Centre in Campbelltown, NSW, before establishing his own workshop and teaching facilities at Couridjah, NSW. In 1981, approximately 30 people were using the Couridjah Pottery facilities. In 1985, Fry had recently worked in Japan, exchanging a studio and getting a chance to use a Bizen kiln. This information all comes from Fry’s entries in the 1981 and the 1985/1986 potters’ directories. Fry marks his work with an impressed ant or with his incised initials. No, this information comes thanks to “Australian Pottery Marks.”

So, if I am wrong, please tell me who it is.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Still Going Strong (Ray Cook)

This morning, as is my habit, I called into my favourite coffee shop Cote Terra in Oakleigh, Victoria for my caffeine hit. As I stood there waiting for Joe to make it with his usual artistic flair, this vision appeared before me. Isn’t it great that after sixty years, some Ray Cook (Raynham) ramekins are still going strong. And yes, there are baked beans in it.

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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.

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.