The evidence of inventories and port-books shows that chafing-dishes were widely used and traded between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries, the types ranging from vessels of precious metals to everyday objects of pottery, which presumably imitated the metallic forms. This paper, which is not claimed to be exhaustive, defines seven types of ‘latten’ vessels current during the period, attempting to date them and assign them to areas of manufacture. The attempt to date them met with limited success in only four of the types, the others being interpolated into the resulting scheme on typological grounds. Four of the types were thought to be of continental manufacture, but it was suggested that two might be English.
