ladle (food service)

Carved wooden porridge ladle. Bought at Kattens, Växtorp. Sweden.

Rice porridge was traditionally eaten on the evening of Christmas Eve after the dancing round the Christmas tree and the bringing in of presents by the Julbock. The first course would be fish, eaten with white butter sauce and potatoes. The rice porridge followed. Rice was a luxury for the working classes. The porridge was flavoured with cinnamon and eaten with milk and sugar. An almond was placed in the porridge, and the person who got it would be next to be married.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

If you have any further information about objects in our collections, can suggest corrections to our information or if you see content requiring immediate action, please contact us: enquiry@horniman.ac.uk