{"product_id":"pair-of-prawn-dishes","title":"Pair of Vintage French Charles Amand Ceramic Lobster Dishes in Coral Red and Cream","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eTwo small oval dishes, each with a coral red lobster curled round the rim as if guarding the contents, made in France by Charles Amand and impressed on the base with the maker's stylised figure mark. They are moulded in relief and hand finished, so the glaze pools darker in the joints of the tail and fades to a soft blush where the shell meets the cream body of the dish. The claws are properly modelled, the feelers are picked out, and the whole thing has the slightly kitsch, slightly serious quality of French tableware made for people who took their seafood lunches seriously.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eCharles Amand made oven to table earthenware for the French home in the decades after the war, the kind of ramekins and gratin dishes that lived in every kitchen and turned up on every bistro table along the coast. Dishes like these were designed as individual servers for a seafood course, for a small gratin, a spoonful of crab or a pool of melted butter beside the main event. They still do that job beautifully. Away from the kitchen they are just as good as trinket dishes on a dressing table, for olives with a drink, or for two people who like a bit of theatre with their breakfast eggs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eEach dish measures 15 cm long, 10 cm wide and 4 cm high, and they stack neatly together, which makes them easy to store and a very good little gift for anyone who loves the seaside or a well dressed table.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eCondition is very good for their age. There is a small glaze flake to one lobster's tail, visible in the photographs, and the faintest crazing to the cream interior of both, all of which we think adds to the charm rather than taking from it. No cracks or repairs, and the red is still bright. The bases are unglazed and carry the impressed Charles Amand mark clearly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWe put them on a white table with a couple of stems of dried flowers and they immediately made us want to book a table somewhere near the sea. If your kitchen or dining room leans coastal, or you just like a bit of joy on the table, this pair will earn a lot of compliments.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Blue Loft","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54970526761287,"sku":null,"price":24.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0850\/3921\/9015\/files\/69BCCAD3-0F4D-4209-81D1-BD7935FAEDD5.jpg?v=1789123324","url":"https:\/\/www.theblueloft.co.uk\/products\/pair-of-prawn-dishes","provider":"The Blue Loft","version":"1.0","type":"link"}