Saveloy 2024

Summary

This ceramic artwork of a footy frank (saveloy) was made by Kenny Pittock for the 2025 City Gallery exhibition 'The Dirty Dozen'. Curated by award-winning food writer and author Richard Cornish, the exhibition delved into the sometimes-dark, often-uplifting stories behind street food, produce markets and the dining habits of the 19th-century elite. The twelve ceramic artworks produced by Pittock bring to life 12 quintessential Melbourne street foods. All look good enough to eat.

"Saveloy carts, with their belching smoke, shrill steam whistles and saveloy-scented steam filling the night air, were a common sight on the streets of Melbourne from the 1860s. They attracted as much derision from polite society as they did patronage from late-night revellers. The saveloy cart epitomised the tension between those wanting to create a stable, law-abiding society and the laissez-faire nature of the gold-rich colony, where anything was acceptable so long as it made money. The saveloys themselves incited moral outrage, with reports of household pets and marsupials being minced, spiced and stuffed into sausage casings. Some of Victoria’s first food-related laws were passed to ensure saveloy production was safe. Today’s ‘Footy Frank’ is the modern equivalent of the saveloy." - Richard Cornish, 'The Dirty Dozen' exhibition catalogue