A Caughley tart or patty pan circa 1780 of circular form with slightly reinforced everted rim, painted in underglaze blue with the Rock Strata Island (Island Sampan) pattern with an associated border to the interior edge, unmarked, 9.1cm diameter Provenance: Ex. Wychwood Collection. Notes: Food historians suggest that tarts were introduced first in Medieval Times. Unlike pies, these dishes were presented without a top crust which gave the opportunity to create a variety of colourful dishes which could be found either savoury or sweet. 18th century sources demonstrate the large amount of recipes catered towards this popular dish, which could contain anything from meat and vegetables to fruit or cheese. Hannah Glasse addresses the use of these pans directly, saying, 'If you bake in tin Patties, butter them, and you must put a little crust all over, because of the taking them out. If in china, or glass, no crust but the top one. Lay fine sugar at the bottom, then your plumbs, cherries, or any other sort of fruit, and sugar at top; then put on your lid, and bake them in a slack oven.' -- The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, Hannah Glasse, facsimile 1747 reprint [Prospect Books:Devon] 1995 (p. 75)