A Caughley potted meat pot transfer-printed in the Pleasure Boat or Fisherman pattern, circa 1780-90, S mark, 11.9cm wide Provenance: Wright Collection no.869, purchased from J. Pinnick. The preservation of food such as meat or cheese by 'potting' was an important process. It involved sealing food in butter other fat to eliminate its exposure to air which would cause it to go bad, and this process would mean that this food could be kept for weeks or months at a time dependent on the storage conditions. By the 1600s, pots were beginning to replace the heavy crusts which were initially used as a method in this process of preserving meat. These crusts would be used in place of a container to protect the food from the outside environment and were not necessarily always consumed. In order to complete the potting process the meat would be cut into pieces, baked with fresh butter or some form of other fat and seasoned. After pounding with a mortar and pestle the meat would then be stored into pots such as these when they were then heated, cooled and sealed with a final layer of butter. An exception to this rule would sometimes be small birds which could be found potted whole. 18th century receipts show that potting was used for a large variety of meats such as ox-tongue, eels, hare and rabbit. A cookery book by Hannah Glasse (1777 and 1787, therefore contemporary to this meat pot) showed that some cooks often kept meat beyond its prime in a refusal to waste it. In which case the meat would be removed from the pot, boiled and re-buttered in order to re-preserve it. Potted meals were prized by places such as Inns, as they provided an easy and reliable source of food for their patrons and ships would maintain a similar store of potted goods in order to facilitate long journeys. Prime cuts of meat were often used and these meat pots were an important feature of many a dinner table in the 18th century.