Metal ramekins/dishes

Hi all! Can anyone please tell me what these little dishes are and may have been used for? My best guess is that they are ramekins. Thanks!

 

Welcome, anchorallusion! I wouldn't call them ramekins because of the flared shaped. Ramekins normally have straight sides.

Can we see a bottom (be sure to include any marks) and a straight-on view from the side? How tall? How wide at base and across the top?

 

Hi and WELCOME, Anchorallusion!!! Hope you enjoy this site as much as we all do!!!! If you go back in to your post with "Edit" and click on the top image icon labelled "post every image FULL SIZE" we can all see it full size!! THANKS!!!

 

Hi, thanks for your reply, which has already been useful. Having problems uploading more images, so will keep working on that, but it measures: Height 3cm, 7cm wide at the top and 4cm wide at the bottom. There aren't any marks, but there is an indent on the bottom.

 

Hi! Thanks for the advice, I've changed it to full size.

 

Seeing it in your hand really puts the size (even though you gave dimensions!) in perspective for me!! Maybe a finger bowl??

 

So they are really tiny, brass? looking outside and brown coating? inside that has suffered chips? during use?

Thanks for posting that picture of the underside, but that raised another question (at least for me.) The brightest spot in the center is surrounded by a rough looking substance that appears to have gaps in a few places around the edge. Is that the way it looks to you? Are they all like that? With the outer surface appearing unblemished, it strikes me that these were inside something else most of the time.

 

Yes, they appear to be brass, with some kind of coating inside which is brown and very smooth. I think the blemishes are either chips or possibly bubbling to the coating?

The rough looking substance on the underside does appear to have tiny gaps around the edges. They are all like that.

Thank you for the questions, it's really got me looking at them more closely! Even more interested to know what they are now!

 

I think you're on to something! Have just done a quick search and some very similar items came up, so they are more than likely finger bowls. Thank you!