Ceramic Moulds

The most readily available and cost effective vintage moulds are ceramic, they became popular in the late 18th & early 19th century for forming a whole range of foods into mostly geometric shapes. There are a number of named makers, some of my favourites include; Wedgwood, Davenport & Copeland, alongside a whole army of unmarked moulds who's origin remains a mystery.

Some of my Favourites

I use all of these moulds and love them dearly, though not easy to get a good result, when they turn out well the definition is amazing - you can follow my step y step guide to using ceramic moulds here.

Shelly Star

The Shelley Star was the very first mould in my collection and it’s still one of my favourites. I love it’s elegant simplicity and tapered top.

Shelley Potteries began manufacturing jelly moulds in 1904. For the first time the shape on the inside of the mould was reproduced on the outside - up until this point the exterior of moulds had given no clue to the beauty of the inside.

From a practical point of view they ensured that all parts of the mould had an equal thickness of earthenware. This simple detail ensured heat travels evenly around the form, allowing an easy release and a high quality finish with minimum effort.

Grimwades Rabbit

Rabbits are a staple of jelly moulds, as such I spent many months trying to track down the right mould.

Finally I found the Grimwades vintage ceramic rabbit mould. The detail it creates is simply stunning, when wobbled it’s almost as if the bunny is alive!

The Grimwade Brothers established their Winton Pottery in Stoke in 1886. The rabbit mould is one of their most famous, it was first released in the 1930’s.

I find that while the modern ceramic bunny moulds look beautiful on the outside they have poor definition inside.

Your best bet would be to raid your grandmother’s kitchen or use a vintage aluminium mould (Swan make a great one), these are readily available, much cheaper, have great definition and are easy to release.