A saucer is a type of small

dishware Tableware is any dish or dishware used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. It includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of obj ...

. While in the Middle Ages a saucer was used for serving condiments and sauces, currently the term is used to denote a small plate or shallow bowl that supports a cup – usually one used to serve coffee or tea.

Overview

The center of the saucer often contains a depression or raised ring sized to fit a matching cup; this was only introduced in the mid 18th century. The saucer is useful for protecting surfaces from possible damage due to the heat of a cup, and to catch overflow, splashes, and drips from the cup, thus protecting both table linen and the user sitting in a free-standing chair who holds both cup and saucer. The saucer also provides a convenient place for a wet spoon, as might be used to stir the drink in the cup in order to mix sweeteners or creamers into tea or coffee. Some people pour the hot tea or coffee from the cup into the saucer; the increased

surface area The surface area of a solid object is a measure of the total area that the surface of the object occupies. The mathematical definition of surface area in the presence of curved surfaces is considerably more involved than the definition of arc ...

of the liquid exposed to the air increases the rate at which it cools, allowing the drinker to consume the beverage quickly after preparation. This was very common in the 18th century. Although often part of a place setting in a tea or dinner set, teacups with unique styling are often sold with matching saucers, sometimes alone, or as part of a tea set, including a teapot and small dessert plates.

Thermal transport

When placed beneath a cup, saucers have very little direct influence on beverage cooling rate. For hot, water based beverages (e.g. tea or coffee), cooling rate in a cup is typically dominated by evaporation, which occurs across the free surface in contact with the air. Heat transfer through the bottom of the cup is small relative to heat lost through the top of the cup. Further reducing the heat lost through the bottom of the cup has little effect on the cooling rate of the beverage. Placing a saucer on top of a cup, however, inhibits evaporative cooling and is thus an effective way of reducing the cooling rate so that the drink remains warmer for longer. The reduction in heat loss due to evaporation is typically much greater than the increase in heat loss associated with conduction through the saucer (and subsequent radiation or convective transfer to the surrounding air).

Historical reference

Gallery

File:Saucer with yellow and white design.jpg, Department store-ware File:Styrofoam saucer.JPG, Styrofoam saucer File:WLA taft Joan of Arc Sugar Bowl and Judith Saucer.jpg, Antique File:Petite sous-tasse en Faïence de madame Desmette - Maison Léon Losseau.jpg, Faience saucer of the

Maison Losseau The Maison Losseau is an Art Nouveau private house located in Mons, Belgium. Dating from the 18th century, it was renovated in Art Nouveau style in the early 1900s at the request of Léon Losseau by Paul Saintenoy. It is listed on the list of the ...

collections

References

External links