Small White Dish with Hanging Hole

This 3-inch white dish is a vintage ceramic jelly or food mold, traditionally used for setting desserts or gelatin-based dishes. Its distinctive design features a sunburst or radiating fluted pattern on the interior, which would create an ornate, decorative impression on the food once it was unmolded.

These small molds were a staple in 19th and early 20th-century kitchens, often made from heavy ironstone or stoneware to ensure durability and even cooling. A unique functional detail of this specific piece is the small pierced hanging hole on the protruding tab at the top, which allowed the mold to be displayed as decorative wall art when not in use. While larger versions were used for family-sized jellies, a 3-inch mold like this was typically intended for individual servings or for molding small portions of butter or soft cheese.