A food dome is a cover, usually domed in shape, placed over a dish to keep food warm and protect it from dust and flies. The term covers silver and plated dish covers used at formal dinners, large meat domes for joints and roasts, glass domes for cheese and cakes, and simple wire-mesh or gauze covers used in kitchens and larders.
In grand households of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, food was carried from distant kitchens to the dining room under polished dish covers, which were then lifted at table. These were made in silver and, from the later eighteenth century, in Old Sheffield plate and later electroplate, often in graduated sets with gadrooned rims, armorial engraving and detachable handles shaped as foliage, animals or crests. Glass domes on wooden or ceramic bases were used for displaying cakes and cheeses, while mesh covers protected food in the pantry. Collectors of metal domes look for good condition of the plating, crisp handles and engraved crests, and complete sets are particularly prized. Today large domes make striking decorative pieces on sideboards and dressers, and smaller ones are still used at table.
