Antique Victorian EMPIRE Quadruple Silverplate Covered Butter Dish with ornate finial and floral etched design. Original satin silverplate finish on lid and typical Victorian design elements throughout!
The finial features an ornate fretwork design atop a polished silver dome, with the original satin silverplate finish and hand tooled floral design with leaves on both sides of this silver lid.
The inside of the lid shows considerable silverplate discoloration, and the inside of the base shows only a moderate amount of silverplate wear. The ornate floral handles with berries are in excellent conditon with normal wear.
There is moderate silverplate loss on the lid as indicated by the photographs. There is also silverplate wear and loss along the edge of the lid. The base also shows silverplate loss in small areas. Overall silverplate loss on both the lid and the base is approximately 10%. There are no dings, dents or other damage noted. The prongs on the front are in very good original condition.
About Silver Plate and Silverplate Covered Butter Dishes
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.
Marked on the base with EMPIRE MFG CO., QUADRUPLE PLATE and the Pattern Number 101. This quadruple silverplate covered butter dish measures 8-3/4" from handle to handle, 6" in diameter and is 7" high to the top of the finial. It weighs just shy of one pound. You can learn more about the history of Empire Mfg. Co. from our Silver Manufacturers pages.
#A686 - Antique EMPIRE Quadruple Silver Plate Covered Butter Dish Silverplate
$168.00
