{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O11366"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O11366/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM6008/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM6008/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM6008","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O11366/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O11366","accessionNumber":"C.354&A-1983","objectType":"Cheese dish","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>Wedge-shaped cheese dishes and covers provided a hygenic storage and serving dish for sections of cheese cut from a full round. They were one of many types of dish designed  to suit a particular food. Extensive glass table services became increasingly popular towards the end of the 19th century. Cheaply made, in pressed glass, such sets, which were often elaborate, became widely available.  The grandest examples of cheese dish were fully cylindrical covers fitted on a circular platter and designed to hold a complete Cheddar or Stilton.<br><br><b>Materials & Making</b><br>The technique of press-moulding glass with the aid of a hand-operated machine was first perfected in the United States of America in the early 1820s. It took only two people to shape a measured quantity of hot glass in a heated metal mould. By simply depressing a lever, a metal plunger was lowered into the glass, forcing it into the patterned mould. By the 1830s this method had spread to Europe and Britain, giving rise to stylistic changes and revolutionising the availability of glassware. The technique made the mid-to late 19th century the first period of true mass production. In the 1890s the introduction of steam-powered presses improved quality while cutting costs even further.<br><br><b>People</b><br>Sowerby & Co. already  had a long history when John Sowerby moved the factory to Ellison Street, Gateshead, in around 1850.  He died in the mid-1870s and was succeeded by his son John George Sowerby, who introduced a wide range of coloured glass and continued the expansion and development set in motion by his father.  Although the setting up of other Sowerby works by cousins of J.G. Sowerby in the late 1880s subsequently complicated the story, the Ellison Street works became enormously successful, and opened offices in Gateshead, Birmingham, London, Paris and Hamburg.  In 1882 it was recorded as 'the largest pressed glass manufactory in the world'.","physicalDescription":"","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Sowerby Ellison Glassworks","id":"A9224"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Press-moulded glass","categories":[{"text":"Glass","id":"THES48946"},{"text":"Food vessels & Tableware","id":"THES48952"},{"text":"British Galleries","id":"THES48985"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2006AM6008"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"125B (VA)","id":"THES49893"},"free":"","case":"CA2","shelf":"","box":"39"},{"current":{"text":"125B (VA)","id":"THES49893"},"free":"","case":"CA2","shelf":"","box":"39"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Cheese dish","id":""}],[{"text":"Cheese dish","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Gateshead","id":"x28869"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1883","earliest":"1883-01-01","latest":"1883-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by M. J. Franklin","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"22.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"30.4","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"20.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions checked: Measured; 07/07/1999 by Terry\n\ndish  L 20.0, W 15.8, H 18.8Stand L 30.4, W, 20.8 and H 3.6 cms","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Marks: maker's mark of a peacock head, moulded; diamond registration mark","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":"A8877"},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Manufactured by Sowerby & Co., Ellison Glassworks, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Cheese dish","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Design registered  in 1883","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nCovered dishes for serving small pieces of cheese became common in the second half of the 19th century. The covers preserved the enticing smell of the cheese and prevented it from drying out. The wedge and the triangle were the most popular shapes, in ceramic or glass.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["C.354-1983","C.354A-1983"],"accessionNumberNum":"354","accessionNumberPrefix":"C","accessionYear":1983,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Cheese dish [1]","Cheese dish [2]"],"assets":["2019LP9112","2019LP8685","2019LU2552"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-08","recordCreationDate":"1999-06-23","availableToBook":false}}