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Photo of a butter print
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Cultural Objects, Tools

Butter Mold

People
Associated Person: Mattie Yates King
Date
1940s
Places
Check (Locust Grove District)
Material/Medium

Poplar

Specifications
  • Diameter: 3 3/4 inches
  • Height: 3 inches
Description

A simple design with four leaves or petals gives a decorative touch to this butter mold. Its handle is missing and one side of the bell has split. Someone, possibly Mattie King’s husband Thomas Merritt King, wrapped wire around the circumference so that they could continue using the mold.

Keywords
Butter mold, butter press, butter print
Bio Sketch

Mattie and Thomas King owned a farm in the Check area. Both were highly skilled in a number of crafts. See their handiwork in our Coverlets and Baskets Collections.

Notes

Butter sales offered income for farm women and a well-formed block of butter with an attractive print pressed into it was valued higher than an inferior effort. Early butter molds were turned on lathes and carved by hand; by the 1900s, commercially produced molds became available.