- Depending on the courses served, a guest at a Victorian table could find several small dishes and bowls at his place setting. A shallow crescent-shaped plate, or bone dish, would be the proper place to discard bones. The butter pat, a round or square bowl approximately 3 inches in diameter, would hold the guest's individual butter serving. A berry dish with a perforated liner allows water and juice to drain from the fruit it holds. And a mitten dish would contain a relish. This elongated dish with a handle on one end is so named because its shape resembles a mitten.
- A chowder or porridge would be served in a mush cup, which looks like an over-sized coffee cup. A gentleman can keep his mustache dry by drinking from a mustache cup, which is constructed with an interior slitted shelf that shields his mustache from his beverage. And frozen desserts are best enjoyed in an ice cup, a small cup raised on a pedestal that rests on a matching saucer.
- Baked goods and pancakes should be kept fresh in a muffin dish, a deep bowl with a perforated lid that allows steam to escape. Dispense sugar from a sugar duster, which is similar in shape to a salt shaker. And serve hot chocolate from a chocolate pot, which closely resembles a coffee pot except it has a shorter spout.
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