Ironstone Vegetable Dish

This white ironstone covered vegetable dish was made by E. F. Bodley and Company, of Burslem, Staffordshire, England, and bears the motto of the C.S.S. Alabama, “AIDE TOI ET DIEU T'AIDERA” or "God helps those who help themselves."

Originally the covered vegetable dish was part of a service intended for the C.S.S. Alabama, but it was ultimately divided amongst other ships in the Confederate Navy. This particular dish came into the possession of Captain Michael Philip Usina, who at that time was a subordinate of Captain Semmes of the C.S.S. Alabama. Due to economic hardship after the war, Captain Usina asked Mr. Willax, a shopkeeper in St. Augustine, Florida, to sell the dish for profit. According to museum records, the dish came into Dr. James Kimball's possession in 1878 as compensation for treatment of Mrs. Willax for yellow or typhoid fever. The dish was handed down from father to son and then made it into the museum's collection in 1959 by way of gift from the late Mr. Samuel Eastman Kimball.