Fish slice

File:Fish Slice - ABDAG001128.jpg

The fish slice was originally an item of silver service used for serving fish at a dining table and was generally made of silver or Sheffield plate rather than copper or tinned iron to avoid the possibility of affecting the taste of the fish.{{Cite web |title=Serving up: silver slices · V&A |url=https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/serving-up-silver-slices/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Victoria and Albert Museum |language=en}}

The first known slices intended specifically for serving fish were mentioned in 1730. Starting with the 1740s they were often shaped as or decorated with representations of fish. By the 1770s, large numbers were manufactured. By the early 1800s, most flatware services included a fish slice. Antique examples commonly appear at auctions{{Cite book |last1=Institute |first1=Sterling and Francine Clark Art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIdMik92xOMC&dq=fish+slice&pg=PA257 |title=English, Irish, & Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute |last2=Mass.) |first2=Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (Williamstown |last3=Wees |first3=Beth Carver |date=1997 |publisher=Hudson Hills |isbn=978-1-55595-117-7 |language=en |access-date=25 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011022536/https://books.google.com/books?id=kIdMik92xOMC&dq=fish+slice&pg=PA257 |archive-date=11 October 2023 |url-status=live}} and are held in the collections of multiple museums. image:Fishslice1.jpgThe term evolved to refer to any slotted or pierced implement used for turning foods when frying them; modern versions are available in many materials such as stainless steel, nylon, and silicone and are typically undecorated and shaped as spatulas.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

The Victoria and Albert Museum has an extensive collection of metalwork fish slices from Britain and the US and includes both contemporary and historical pieces. Manufacturers include functional items, for example some from Josiah Wedgwood{{Cite web|url=http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O346545|title=Fish slice {{!}} Josiah Wedgwood's factory {{!}} V&A Search the Collections|date=7 February 2020|website=V and A Collections|language=en|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=11 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011022534/http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O346545|url-status=live}} to more sculptural contemporary works by Ane Christensen.{{Cite web|url=http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O154378|title=Fish slice {{!}} Christensen, Ane {{!}} V&A Search the Collections|date=7 February 2020|website=V and A Collections|language=en|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=11 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011022532/http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O154378|url-status=live}}

Other examples of serving slices include those for serving cakes, pies, and other desserts; the pudding trowel or pudding trowle is a predecessor of the fish slice.{{Citation |last= |first= |title=Fish slice |date=1814–1815 |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O94496/fish-slice/fish-slice-knight-william/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum |last2= |first2=}}

• Fish knife
• Fish fork
• {{portal-inline|Food}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |title=Antique silver servers for the dining table: style, function, foods, and social history |date=1991 |publisher=Hall |isbn=978-0-9628570-0-3 |editor-last=Rabinovitch |editor-first=Benton Seymour |location=Concord, Mass |editor-last2=Macapia |editor-first2=Paul}}

{{Kitchen tools}}

Category:Fish as food

Category:Food preparation utensils

Category:Serving utensils