Butter Plates (Set of Twelve)
Maker
Gorham Manufacturing Company
(American, founded 1831)
Date1879
MediumGilded silver
DimensionsOverall: 3 x 3in. (7.6 x 7.6cm)
ClassificationsCULINARY ARTIFACTS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase by exchange with funds from the Proctor Bequest
Terms
Object number89.14.1.1-12
DescriptionEach engraved with different Japanese motifOn View
Not on viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextIn the 1860s butter began to be produced by factory methods; however it continued to be expensive. Individual butter plates or "pats" were a way to serve butter sparingly and to call attention to the high-status food by framing it.
These butter plates are miniature artworks that illustrate nineteenth-century designers' fascination with Japanese art. At the Centennial Exposition of 1876, the Japanese department captivated the imagination of the American public. To meet consumer demand Japanese-style wares, silver firms such as Gorham eagerly emulated the Japanese emphasis on nature as a motif and the practice of using mixed metals in the creation of decorative arts. The carefully rendered insects and birds and the geometric borders on these butter plates borrow heavily from Japanese art.
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