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 They were originally made of ceramics but have also been made of glass or porcelain, commonly in a round shape with an angled exterior ridged surface.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

Saturday, June 22, 2013

It's The Pits

As well as ramekins, I have recently been writing a story about the old brick, pipe and tile works in Oakleigh, Victoria. This key industry was also once prevalent across many area of Melbourne but is now restricted to a couple of super plants. Almost everywhere, the old brickworks have been demolished and the land converted to other uses. Councils used the pits to dump our rubbish for decades and those areas most thankfully have been converted to public open space.

Over the next few months I hope to convert my work so far and publish it on my other blog "IT"S THE PITS". If you get the chance, have a look. It's the pits has heaps of other people using the name, so I had to find a name that was not used, so key in "wuxtiple" and you are there. No, it doesn't have some secret meaning, it's just a combination of letters that wasn't taken. There is not much there at the moment, but be patient.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

KMK Kupfermuhle

Designer	Kristiane Wener
Maker	KMK Kupfermuhle
Marks	Paper stamp “KMK Manuell” on base
Material	Glazed terra cotta stoneware
Description	Low profile bowl with moulded short handle protruding from rim. Hole in handle for hanging for display. Pale grey matte glaze with unglazed foot ring. Abstract floral pattern in off-white to interior of base.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	1990
Width at rim	110mm
Width at Base	75mm
Depth	36mm
Length (with handle)	148mm
Weight	245gm
Volume	250ml
Acquisition	Purchase Savers, Frankston 17^th June 2013
Rameking Reference Number	KMK 001

This stoneware ramekin was made around June 1990 by the German company KMK Kupfermuhle (Coppermill). (Keramik Maufactur Kupfermuhle GmbH & Co KG 25551 Hohenlockstedt DE.) This ramekin is from their “Décor” Series 40000 (40,914 Ascher) designed by Kristiane Werner, the series began production in December 1987. This pattern came out in June 1990.

This company began in 1949 with five people in an old World-War II ammunition shed in Schleswig-Holstein in the municipality of Hohenlockstedt. By 1960 they had bought their own premises and were hand-painting their wares. They were one of the many German companies making that revolting technicolour pottery that seems to have become collectible lately. The company ceased production in 1998.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Redbyrne Potteries

Designer
Maker	Redbyrne Potteries Shepparton
Marks	Stamped “Redbyrne Potteries Shepparton” to outside of footring
Material	Glazed blue clay
Description	Wide hand thrown bowl with narrow base and pronounced unglazed footring. Knob handle with steam hole at outer end. Brown matte glaze to interior and exterior excluding footring.
Condition	Very Good
Number	No number
Production Date	1980s
Width at rim	120mm
Width at Base	50mm
Depth	70mm
Length (with handle)	165mm
Weight
Volume
Acquisition	Purchase Savers, Frankston 17^th June 2013
Rameking Reference Number	RBY 001

Pickings have been a bit slim at the op-shops lately, I see stallholders from antique markets trawling Salvo shops and it has become difficult to get in first. Thankfully, most of them have not got a clue about anyone other than the top makers. Anyway, I found this piece today, just the one. Redbyrne Pottery was operated in Shepparton, a rural city, north of Melbourne; by Robert and Dawn Waterson, between 1975 to 2005. It was well known throughout Victoria, supposedly at the time, being our largest producer of hand thrown pottery and probably in Australia. A number of different potters worked there, some using their own marks, others stamping “Redbyrne potteries Shepparton” on their work. They also hand-made pottery plaques that were placed under the garden seats of the Shepparton International Village to recognize the local groups and businesses who donated benches to the village.

Redbyrne Potteries was located at 225 Old Dookie Road, Shepparton. They produced a wide range of well-thrown functional stoneware, mostly with a satiny red-brown glaze. Potters who worked there included Gilbert Buchanan, Chris Cheer, Graeme Day, Steven Elliott, Robert Henderson, Mark Lepp, Cathy Thompson, Noel Townsend, Robert Waterson and Craig Willis. Works were impressed ‘Redbyrne Potteries Shepparton’ or ‘Redbyrne Potteries’ preceeded by the individual potter’s name. (Thanks Australian Pottery at Bemboka for this para)

When the property was sold, Rob and Dawn donated a whole lot of remaining pottery items to the Life shop in Mooroopna that is run by a local church and the profits went back to the Mooroopna community so if you want to get a piece of history before it’s all gone, head over there and see Steve. Maybe there are still a few pieces left. If you pass the old pottery site you’ll see a bit of work taking place with the demolition of the pottery and clearing of land completed. The site to be known as “Redbyrne Estate” is being developed into a twelve-lot subdivision. You can pick up a block, for a pre-release price of $200,000. That’s a lot of ramekins.

Another product was something that you would not really think of, Clay Targets. Everybody has heard of them and somebody had to make them.

The Shepparton Art Museum has, since the 1970s begun to collect and display historic and modern ceramics. An extensive and impressive collection it includes work by the first convict potters through to individual studio potters and commercial potteries. There is some wonderful stuff there, but unfortunately, most of their collection is not to my taste. I believe in utilitarian ceramics, not the trendy wanker crap that passes for “art” pottery, hence, my collection of ramekins. Decoration is secondary to function and some of it is not even good decoration. The Emperors New Clothes are alive and kicking. One thing that I am happy with is their small display of Boyd ramekins.

Designer	Robert Waterson
Maker	Redbyrne Potteries
Marks	Stamped “Redbyrne Potteries Shepparton” to outside of base
Material	Glazed Earthenware clay
Description	Wheel thrown conical bowl with flared rim at top. Unglazed foot with indent. Brown matte glaze to interior and exterior. Knob handle angled upward from centre of exterior. Air hole at end of handle. Darker highlights to bottom of bowl.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	1980s
Width at rim	130mm
Width at Base	50mm
Depth	60mm
Length (with handle)	170mm
Weight	280gm
Volume	300ml
Acquisition	Purchase E-Bay 22 October 2014.
Rameking Reference Number	RBY 002-005

If you want to read more, see this in his own words.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/austpots/discuss/72157629662786291/

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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.