Today’s dishes

Ashleigh Barty and Karolina Pliskova will face off in today’s Wimbledon women’s singles final-with the shiny silver plate.

For the past 130 years, this huge plate has been given to women’s champions-but it begs the question, why do they get a huge round ornament while men get a gold trophy?

A rather retrogressive reason, really-because for most of the 19th century, the role of women was mainly to supervise the household chores.

Given that this is where they have the most power, this dish is often considered a symbol of this-not the most equal reason, and is sometimes seen as a relic of sexism.

When was the Venus Rose Water Plate made?

It was manufactured in 1864 by Birmingham silversmith Elkington and Co.

Although it looks unique, it is actually a replica of a plate made by German metal worker Caspar Enderlein. It itself is a model of a 16th century pewter made by French sculptor Francois Briot.