Metal pans could withstand more heat than earthenware pottery, so they were used for preparing dishes that required more time over a fire, for example boiling suet for puddings. This particular dish would have been used over a smaller rather than large, open fire: perhaps over a shelf or separate stand. It is clearly an object belonging to a well-off household.
A quality set of kitchen equipment was essential for setting up a household, and would have been the first things acquired by newly married couples.
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