Silver articles to either keep dishes warm or decorative objects to keep the hot dish from damaging the table began to make their appearance in the first quarter to the middle part of the eighteenth century.
In England the dish cross was prevalent from around the 1750s. The dish cross normally stands on four decorative feet with a spirit burner fitted to the middle (to keep the dishes warm). The cross was fitted with four arms which slid backwards and forwards to accommodate different size dishes. Not all dish crosses were fitted with a burner, and they were sometimes used just to elevate the dish off the table.
In Ireland the dish ring was more common (often erroneously referred to as a potato ring).The Irish dish ring which was popular between c1745 -1785 was circular in form with generally pierced decoration of a highly ornate nature .These dish rings became extremely popular again in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century where they are likely to be fitted with a blue glass liner .In eighteenth century Ireland these dish rings were a decorative way to elevate a dish on a table and were as much for show as for function. By the late nineteenth century, they tended to be just decorative, with the addition of a blue glass liner and were used for fruit and flowers.
At William Walter Antiques you will find a selection of dish crosses and rings for all purposes
