The cabbage sauceboat is a unique way to serve gravy with a Sunday roast. The curled ‘stem’ of the cabbage leaf forms the handle. In the 1960s a full cabbage tableware set was the mark of a high-society household. Many pieces were highly collectible including Bordallo Pinheiro’s iconic cabbage range. Now these hand-painted earthenware plates, bowls and dishes are back and taking the world by storm. The hand-painted nature of Bordallo Pinheiro ceramics means that no two pieces are ever exactly alike. The Portuguese ceramics studio, Bordallo Pinheiro, was set up in 1884. Brothers Raphael and Feliciano Bordallo Pinheiro started the venture, and many of the pieces today are still made to Raphael’s designs. In only twenty-one years, Bordallo Pinheiro’s bold, artistic ceramics gained international recognition. Raphael took inspiration from the flora and fauna around his home town of Caldas, as well as drawing on ideas from the Renaissance and from the Art Nouveau & Naturalism movements.
