Behind the Colour: Potted Shrimp

Walls: Potted Shrimp No.9906; Woodwork: Blanc de Chine No.9814

THE ESSENTIALS 

Name and number: Potted Shrimp No.9906

Primer & Undercoat: White & Light Tones

Complementary White: Dimity

ABOUT POTTED SHRIMP

From Bisque through to Smoked Trout, we’ve got a veritable boatload of seafood-inspired shades here at Farrow & Ball. Today on The Chromologist, our catch of the day is Potted Shrimp, a traditional blush colour recently featured in our Farrow & Ball Curated by Liberty edit.

Potted Shrimp takes its name from a traditional British dish, often enjoyed by the seaside, which features small pinky-brown shrimp covered in a layer of clarified and cooled spiced butter – what the food historian Bee Wilson has called “medieval cling film” – to preserve them.

The dish, which appeared in Victorian bestseller Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management, has a long and star-studded history. Potted shrimps were a favourite of author Ian Fleming (who shared a taste for it with his creation James Bond) and actor Vincent Price (who was reportedly given the recipe by fellow horror legend Boris Karloff).

The delicacy has even been given the royal seal of approval by Queen Elizabeth II, who, according to former royal chef Darren McGrady, regularly enjoyed potted shrimps on toast.

Like the eponymous dish, our Potted Shrimp is a comforting and nostalgic favourite. It has a touch more yellow pigment than the duskier Setting Plaster, making it a slightly warmer and brighter choice for walls, ceilings, furniture and more.

HOW TO USE POTTED SHRIMP

Brown and other warm neutrals are making a big comeback in interiors, so why not use that to your full advantage with a rich and unexpected scheme?

Rather than pairing Potted Shrimp and Pink Ground walls with a white trim, try turning the traditional contrast on its head and using the intense brown Cola – which will mirror Potted Shrimp’s brown undertones – on woodwork instead.

For a lighter and more playful scheme that’s nostalgia personified, try Potted Shrimp with contrasting colours of equal weight, like Breakfast Room Green and Berrington Blue. Each of these colours has the merest hint of black pigment which keeps the look grown-up and with a subtly aged feel.

For a welcoming kitchen, you could pair Potted Shrimp walls with Breakfast Room Green cabinets, with Berrington Blue on dining chairs or a dresser providing the finishing touch. Or why not give this combination a whirl in a child’s room?