An interesting and unusual French Majolica barbotine asparagus ‘Saucière’ on a shaped, attached stand. The body of the ‘boat’ is formed from a bunch of purple-tipped asparagus spears, swathed in green and mustard yellow leaves, while two delicately bent creamy white spears form the handle. A spray of bright green overlapping leaves ring the pedestal base where the boat meets the stand. The boat is attached to the underplate, which has a border in a creamy yellow basket weave pattern edged by a scalloped turquoise rim. This sauce boat would have originally been filled with a delicious vinaigrette into which the spears of asparagus, much prized as a delicacy in the 19th century, would have been dipped.