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A sauce boat, gravy boat, or saucière is a low jug or pitcher with a handle in which sauce or gravy is served. The typical shape is considered boat-like, hence the name. It often sits on a matching saucer, sometimes attached to the pitcher, to catch dripping sauce.
Some gravy boats also function as gravy separators, with a spout that pours from the bottom of the container, thus leaving any surface-floating fat in the container.
Sauceboats became an important product for English porcelain factories, particularly as Chinese export porcelain wares were uninspiring. Consequently, the earliest factories, such as Bow porcelain, Chelsea, Limehouse, Lunds Bristol, and Worcester, all had sauce boats in their product range.
During the second half of the 18th century, the elaborate early porcelain sauce boat designs were simplified in response to the growing market among the aspiring middle classes. A wide variety of designs were produced and the influence of silver diminished somewhat. Few of the early factories manufactured full dinner services, but the new creamware, developed by Wedgwood, lent itself to the manufacture of large plates, always difficult in early porcelain. As a result, the sauce boat became part of a dinner service, which generally it remains today.
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