A group of early European Pastry Jiggers
Submitted by, and copyright of, Michael Finlay.
Explanation:
Pastry jaggers, originally so-called because they usually have a wheel to allow the pastrycook to cut the pastry with a jagged edge, are now more commonly referred to as jiggers; they may also have other stamps, known as prints, or cutters, for the decoration of pastry. The vast majority of surviving jiggers are the work of brass-founders, cast in brass, bronze or other copper alloys, often cast in separate parts and assembled either by riveting or by means of screw threads. Much rarer are those of wrought-iron, requiring a completely different set of skills, those of the blacksmith. Some jiggers have fixed cutters or prints for the impression of designs such as leaf forms, flowers etc.; others have sprung crimpers.
a. An Italian copper-alloy “Sperone da pasticiero”, also known in France as a “Coq de Patissier”, late 16th century, 14. 8 cm / 5 ¾ in;
b. Another Italian copper-alloy jigger of “Coq” form, late 16th century, 14.2 cm / 5 ⅝ in;
c. A rare Sicilian bronze figural double-wheeled jigger, late 16th/early 17th century, 18 cm / 7 ⅛ in;
d. An English brass jigger with finely facetted stem, and scoop-shaped arced cutter, 17th century, 14. 2 cm / 5 ⅝ in;
e. An Italian brass jigger with double baluster handle, 17th century, 12 cm / 4 ¾ in;
f. (and detail) A Dutch brass jigger, its finial a half-length figure of a pastrycook in Guild attire, mid 17th century, 14 cm / 5 ½ in;
g. An English latten combined spoon and jigger, late 17th century, 14.8 cm / 5 ¾ in;
h. An English copper-alloy jigger, late 17th century, 12.5 cm / 5 in;
i. A rare wrought-iron jigger with flower-form cutter, late 17th century, 16.7 cm / 6 ½ in;
j. An English brass jigger with roundel decoration and sprung crimpers, late 17th/early18th century, 19.2 cm / 7 ½ in.
References:
- Scappi, Bartolomeo, Opera, Venice, 1570. Available in facsimile reprint, Lighting Source, U.K., Ltd., ISBN 978 1 174933 41 7.
- Finlay, Michael, Pastry Jiggers and Pastry Prints, Plains Books, 2014, ISBN 978 1 872477 03 9
