Marbled earthenware baking mould with handle – jaspé, 19th / early 20th c.

A beautiful marbled earthenware baking mould with a handle, known in French as terre jaspée. Cream, brown and purplish layers of clay have been swirled together into a lively marbled pattern. Inside a star-shaped base and a border of small bosses; the top rim is scalloped. Made for a bundt cake, pudding or pie in the 19th or early 20th century. Marbled earthenware is a small work of art: no two pieces are the same. The colours of this mould are exceptionally rich, and it has truly been used, as you can see on the inside. Wonderful in a French country kitchen, a brocante or wabi sabi interior. On the wall, on an open cupboard or as a fruit bowl. Condition: signs of use. A hairline crack runs from the rim through the wall (visible inside and out, and audible when tapped) and there is a chip in the scalloped rim. The underside is unglazed with firing marks and signs of use; small glaze chips on the inside. Stable, but no longer suitable for baking. On the underside there is still an old price sticker of 150 guilders: so the mould was already being traded as an antique before 2002.