Pretty covered quadruple silverplate butter dish by Waltham Jewelers with beaded edge, hand engraved design and ornate finial.
Rich, dark oxidized finish on the quadruple silverplate, this covered butter dish would be an excellent addition to the Waltham Tea Serving Set we also have available.
This antique silver butter dish has seen some well-loved use. The dome top lid is slightly "pushed in" although the finial is still firmly attached, and is just barely out of round. The silverplate is worn on the top of the lid, and there are a small number of rub marks on the sides. The hand-tooled bright cut engraving is sharp and crisp.
The beaded butter dish bowl has a moderate amount of scratch marks in the base, silverplate discoloration in the base and some silverplate wear, but overall, this is in very good condition.
Years ago, cooking in America called for tremendous amounts of butter. Though margarine made its appearance during World War II, there was no substitute for butter when most of the silver shown on this page was produced.
In order to use butter in the large one-pound blocks in which it was generally sold, a dish was invented that not only helped with the presentation at the table, but was a necessity. Most silver and silverplate butter dishes consist of three silver parts: the lid, the pierced liner, and the base. Butter was placed on the liner, allowing the excess water from the butter to drain through the piercing. If the weather was warm, ice was added with the butter on top, and the melting ice could drain through the piercing.
These silver and silverplated dishes are also known as domed butter dishes, covered butter dishes and just butter dishes. These more ornate butter dishes are less common than the more commonly seen rectangular butter dishes - just slightly larger than a stick of modern butter. Rarely does one see these rounded butter dishes in use anymore, and they have achieved a strong collecting following.
For fancy dinners, the hostess may have had one of the servants make fancy molded pieces of butter called “butter pats” or butter balls, which were served on crushed ice in the butter dish to be picked up with a butter pick. These required yet another butter serving piece, itself known as a “butter pat.” Butter pats were tiny plates placed at each individual setting, to be used for a single piece of butter. They range in diameter from approximately 2 2/5 inches to about 3 ¼ inches, and were made in sterling as well in porcelain. Many sterling silver companies produced butter pats to match their sterling flatware patterns.
As butter began to be commercially produced for distribution in individually wrapped quarter pound cubes, the large form became obsolete. Thus the butter dish began a new form. This new dish usually had a crystal liner, to protect the silver from the salt used in making the butter. Most of the new butter dish forms are 8 – 9 inches long.
This antique quadruple silverplate butter dish measures 6.26" in diameter (the butter bowl), 4.75" in diameter (the lid), stands 4" high and weighs 10 ounces. Touchmarked on the base with WALTHAM JEWELERS, QUADRUPLE PLATE and the pattern number 180. You can read more about the history of Waltham Jewelers Company here.
A1060 - WALTHAM JEWELERS Quadruple Silverplate Covered Butter Dish
$40.00
