Butter stamp

British butter stamp featuring a thistle, held in the Auckland War Memorial Museum

Irish butter stamp, with mould for the block, and below a bain-marie for hot water to soften the butter

A butter stamp or butter print[1] is a device for stamping or shaping a design onto a block of warm butter.[2]

Butter stamps were sometimes commercial but usually purely decorative and applied in homes.[3] They were typically made of wood and feature simple designs of cows, flowers or geometric patterns and, if commercial, the name of the retailer.[4]

Often, they formed part of a box-like mould for forming the whole block. Other designs achieved the same effect by carving the design at the bottom of a butter mould.[5] Part of the intent for commercial moulds and stamps was to demonstrate consistency in the quantity of butter sold.

References

1. "Butterprints". National Museum of Ireland. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
2. Allen, Darina (24 February 2010). "How to make butter". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
3. "Buttermaking". www.hiddenhistory.ie. Tipperary Museum of Hidden History. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
4. "Butter Mold". www.sdstate.edu. South Dakota State University. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
5. "At Home: 1850: Objects - Butter mold and butter stamp, 1800-1900". exhibits.museum.state.il.us. Retrieved 3 October 2024.