Need help finding a small dish

October 6, 2020 9:53 PM

Looking for some small (1 and 1/2 inch diameter) thin porcelain (has to be light) saucers or shallow cups, for weighing and dispensing medicine to critters licking it off the dish. Light weight, reusable, shallow and small. Been searching but all the condiment dishes I see are too big and too heavy. Anyone know of just the thing? Thanks!
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

Best answer: What about a doll tea set? Because the size you say is really pretty tiny for human anything, even travel size containers. This Tea set has 1" plates, 0.7" saucers ( it is also the first one I looked at, looks like there are tons.) 1/12 size is about right to get 1" plates.
posted by lemonade at 10:21 PM on October 6, 2020 [5 favorites]

Would melamine work? These are 2 2/3 inches.
posted by mefireader at 10:21 PM on October 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Would glass with a convex bottom work? A cursory search on amazon found a Ø5cm/1.96" set. I also saw a listing for Ø30mm/1.18" but the listing has conflicting specs and hopefully is priced for a case. A similar dish is called a beaker lid... these are larger than you wanted and a bit pricey.
posted by tinker at 10:29 PM on October 6, 2020

Evaporating dishes might come in the right size. Or glass watch glasses, though the edges aren't always rounded, and could cut a tongue if licked with too much gusto. Petri dishes might work too, though the have internal corners. If it doesn't need to be porcelain, weighing boats are cheap and come in a range of sizes, and can be reused a few times at least.

Amazon sells a lot of lab wear, but the dimensions in the listings can be sketchy (lab suppliers are terrible at making informative websites). You can cross reference the part number to the brand website to check that you're ordering the right thing. The brands still put out old school catalogues, which you can download and often have much more info.
posted by kjs4 at 11:51 PM on October 6, 2020

Muji sells tiny round porcelain trays that are 2.2 inches (5.5 cm) wide with a lip that is .4 inches (1 cm) tall. I believe they are meant as a place to put a ring or earrings while you are washing up.
posted by Miss Matheson at 12:04 AM on October 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

Plenty of potters on Etsy and likely there are some local to you. You could get exactly what you want custom made.
posted by Sophont at 1:59 AM on October 7, 2020

Best answer: Ceramic utensil rests; glass reptile feeding mini-dish; watercolor paint pans (plastic; looking for pans/pots in other materials); small glass petri dishes
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:02 AM on October 7, 2020

If you live near an Asian grocery, the little sushi soy sauce dishes might me light enough.
posted by 8dot3 at 4:47 AM on October 7, 2020 [9 favorites]

Best answer: My immediate thought was miniature dollhouse dishes. Here's an option on amazon. Here's an option on not-amazon.

And if neither of those is quite right, you can search around for 1:12 scale dollhouse dishes until you find one that will work. 1:12 scale will put you in just about the right size range and miniature enthusiasts are intense--there are lots of options out there.
posted by phunniemee at 5:06 AM on October 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

If you search for "ring dish" on Etsy there are a ton of options that might work
posted by Mchelly at 5:36 AM on October 7, 2020

In addition to the Muji tray mentioned above, Muji also just has tiny plates with the rest of the dishes. They're very light weight white porcelain, with less of a lip than the tray. But probably more like 2" across. I don't see them online but their website is dodgy at best, you'll be able to find them if it's possible to go in person.
posted by sparkling at 8:15 AM on October 7, 2020

There are piles of orphaned saucers at charity thrift shops everytime I go.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 8:31 AM on October 7, 2020

I also see tiny little dishes sold as teabag holders. Often they're wider than an inch, but I wouldn't be shocked to see ones that were smaller.
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:49 AM on October 7, 2020

I have these and they're great and only $1.95/each: https://www.crateandbarrel.com/porcelain-mini-round-grip-dish/s174963
posted by juniperesque at 10:55 AM on October 7, 2020