Synonymous with the condiment they were designed to hold, vintage butter pats endure as multifunctional works of art.
If you sat down to dinner in an upper-crust Victorian household, you’d encounter lavish tableware to accommodate every imaginable foodstuff: tomato servers, pepperboxes, berry spoons, claret jugs. Most of these specialty items have gone the way of bustles and hatpins. But a handful have slipped nimbly into modern life, such as the butter pat—a tiny, shallow dish whose usefulness far exceeds its intended purpose.
“In an era of excess, the Victorians indulged in a belief that every food had to have its own plate,” says Keith Winkler, marketing and media relations manager at Replacements, Ltd. Butter was no exception, and individual portions at each place setting were de rigueur for fashionable hostesses.
While butter pats with custom logos were commissioned for fine hotels, ocean liners, and railway dining cars, most were part of a specific china pattern. Venerable brands like Spode, Wedgwood, and Haviland led the way with thousands of styles, some mass-produced, some painstakingly embellished by hand. The color, shape, and detailing of each one reflects the diversity of patterns, but the common thread is size—generally between 3 and 4 inches in diameter.
Since butter pats aren’t always marked as such, it can be tricky for collectors to distinguish them from other dishes of similar scale and profile. For example: In the 1920s, Japanese tableware company Noritake partnered with New York’s Larkin Soap Co. to distribute its now-classic Azalea china for free.
Homeowners who bought Larkin products could exchange proof-of-purchase coupons for a series of Azalea pieces that included both a butter pat and a children’s tea saucer, which look almost identical. If you happen upon either today, Keith says, it might be hard to tell the difference without the rest of the set for comparison.
Versatility is part of the appeal. Use your vintage butter pats to hold jewelry or soap, or as a resting place for spoons and tea bags. They’re just the right size to tuck beneath a miniature potted plant or a votive candle. Even better, the price tag, which usually ranges from $10 to $30, makes them among the most affordable vintage treasures.
Styling by Sidney Bragiel
Photography by Kyle Carpenter
How do you use your charming vintage butter pats? Share your photos with us by tagging @SouthernLadyMag on Instagram and Facebook.
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