Collections Online
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
Advanced Search
Butter print
Vesica shaped print with circular print on flat-butted handle. Large print has central 8-pointed radial surrounded by 4 veined leaves with veined heart in each corner. Background filled with flayed lines in zig-zag punched outer border. Handle butt print has 8-pointed radial in circle
Hand carved sycamore butter print from Llan-gan, south Wales.
Butter prints were used to stamp butter ready for the market. The craft of carving the prints was common to many countries, but canoe-shaped prints are unique to Wales. The most popular designs were hearts, geometrical shapes, and patterns of lines spreading out from the centre of a circle. From about 1850 to 1900, roses, strawberries, cows, acorns, and pineapples were fashionable designs.