B LUE - PRINTED

P ICKLE D ISHES & M ILSEYS

A social and historical commentary

by
Richard Halliday

PICKLE HISTORY
History of Pickles
The first question we must answer is; what are pickles? Modern-day
terminology and thinking suggests that pickles are gherkins or cucumbers, but
the broader and more specifically, the historical term, differs from this greatly.
Historically, the term pickles did refer to an item that had been pickled or
preserved, but also the term encompasses sauces and relishes that were designed
to accompany a meal. As such, pickles as an item generally consists of
discernible vegetable or fruit pieces in a sauce, although the sauce is subordinate
in character to the vegetable or fruit pieces. It might consist of a single type of
vegetable or fruit, or a combination of these. These fruits or vegetables might be
coarsely or finely chopped, but generally a relish is not as smooth as a
sauce-type condiment, such as ketchup. The overall taste sensation might be
sweet or savory, hot or mild, but it is always a strong flavour that complements
or adds to the primary food item with which it is served. Relish probably came
about from the need to preserve vegetables in the winter. Chutney might be
considered a type of relish. Indian pickles and relishes, where the preparation
originated from, generally includes either vegetables, herbs or fruits.

Pickle dishes in their intended use.

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A Durham Ox series leaf dish, c.1815. It is 6 long and is printed with a scene of a
cow and calf. This is actually part of a larger scene which includes a cowman tending
a group of three cows. It is unmarked.

A Durham Ox series leaf dish, c.1815. It is 5 long and is printed with a scene of a
milkmaid milking a cow and whilst a seated man and other cows look on. It is
unmarked.

A Durham Ox series leaf dish, c.1815. It is 5 long and is printed with a slightly
different section of the milkmaid scene (see above). It is unmarked.

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This Turner Elephant pattern milsey has leaves, circles and heartshaped cut-outs.
The holes in these strainers were punched out by hand and were not moulded as
part of the manufacturing process. Im sure that some potters had quite large
punches that included the majority of the holes in one punch, or at least quite
large sections of the overall pattern that could easily be reproduced. This can
seen in a number of examples how symmetrical and crisply the intricate hole
pattern is produced.

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The next question must be related to the name

milsey. If the name indeed comes from a
corruption of the two words, milk sieve, then
we must try this out and see how successful it
is at doings this job and the below images
illustrate this in use. The milk was boiled
before being strained just as it would have
been done two-hundred years ago when it was
done to prevent it tasting sour in the
pre-refrigeration days

As can be seen from the above images of both the small and large-holed milsey,
they both work extremely effectively at removing the milk skin from what
drains through. Of all the possible uses, this one works by far the best and most
successfully. You will notice that the milk in the teabowl in both sets of results is
completely free from the unwanted skin. The only other thing to mention is that
the milsey with the smaller holes require slight agitation to get the required
results.
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A Chinese Flag Bearers pattern (border print only) milsey, c.1810. It is 4 long.

A Flying Pennant pattern milsey, c.1815. It is 3.5 long and is unmarked.

A Nankin pattern milsey, c.1815. It is 3.75 long and is unmarked.

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