White Star Line kosher service plates

These plates were made around 1928 for the White Star Line of Liverpool for use on board their transatlantic passenger ships. They are rare examples and show that the company was catering for Jewish people working or travelling on their ships.

In Jewish law, there are important rules concerning food and its preparation, one being that meat and dairy produce must be prepared, served and eaten separately, as these plates demonstrate. This also applies to utensils used. A plate picks up 'kosher' (or 'correct') status from the food eaten from it. Although some items can be 'kosherised' by special cleaning, other materials, including earthenware plates like these, cannot and so must not be used for both meat and dairy produce. These plates are marked quite clearly to prevent confusion.

These serving plates were manufactured by John Maddocks & Sons Limited and supplied to White Star by John Stonier & Company of Liverpool in about 1928. They are made of white vitrified (heated to become glass-like) earthenware with black rim decoration and the White Star Line ribbon, a very rare pattern, and are marked in the centre in English and Hebrew. In our collection we have a soup plate marked "Meat", another marked "Milk", and a dinner plate marked "Meat". Each measures 24cm in diameter.

These pieces are currently on display in the Emigrants to the New World gallery in the basement of Merseyside Maritime Museum.

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