Topic: Fleur de lys Prince of Wales feathers uranium butter mold

[thewingedsphinx]

Unusual piece, with reverse saying “ICH DIEN” = I serve. I think this is a butter mold. It’s heavily chipped, wouldn’t want to spread that butter on my toast with uranium chips in. Has any one seen any thing like this before. I reckon it’s Victorian?

Cheers Mike

[Paul S.]

very unusual and interesting Mike  -  regret not a clue as to maker, sorry, although you'd assume made in U.K. since the PoW was British Royalty.           Going on the assumption that you're correct about this being a mould  -  in other words something that is used to impress a pattern onto the butter  -  then might it be the case that the wording should be in reverse on the glass, so that it appears the correct way round when plonked on the butter  -  or do I have that all wrong.

[thewingedsphinx]

Hi Paul,
Yes you are right the tiny wording is in reverse so you would only be able to read whatever it was being stamped or moulded onto. It took me a while to translate it as I thought it may be German but wifey said it’s a Latin  phrase motto for the Prince of Wales.
I have now found similar wooden moulds.
Funnily enough a while ago I sold a piano insulator to a lady in Australia, she sent me some photos of her friends weird piano insulator which was another of these, but I thought it was unlikely as the decoration would have been destroyed by the castor and the base is round.
Has a great uv glow similar to some of my Manchester piano insulators though.

[Paul S.]

thanks Mike  -  I get the impression this must be rare, don't recall ever seeing another - pity it's so damaged, and wouldn't have the faintest clue as to age  -  agree, I don't see this as an insulator.          I wonder if there has to be some form of licence in order for maker to use the 'feathers'.

[Anne]

I'm intrigued by this, as the only butter moulds I've seen in glass were of a different style - see two examples on this page (scroll down) https://blog.cheesemaking.com/molding-butter-part-3/.

Mike could you please add a top down view of this, showing how it looks from the curved side please?  I'm trying to visualise how clearly the design would show through the curved surface. Ta!

[thewingedsphinx]

Hi Anne

The round base is very scuffed and don’t forget the writing is a mirror image and can only be read from the material that has been empresses onto/into in thus case play doh. It’s quite awkward to handle as a stamp so it could be for some other kind of mold?? Unfortunately the text is very small so still please refer to my first thread.
 Still a mystery?
Regards Mike

[Anne]

Thanks Mike, it is very scuffed for sure. I was idly wondering if it might have been a paperweight to be read from above, but having seen the top view I don't think it is.  I wonder if it was for impressing the tops of biscuits, like shortbread moulds we still see around, rather than butter?  It's definitely an interesting thingummybob, whatever it is.

[thewingedsphinx]

Hi, yes I originally thought a biscuit or pastry mold but the pattern is quite intricate not sure if the detail would show on a shortbread biscuit,..

[Paul S.]

another line of thought ………………..    can't remember exactly now, but do traditional wooden butter moulds have a handle or some means of holding them while they are pressed onto the butter.          This one doesn't have a handle of any sorts to grip while pressing  -  does that possibly rule out a butter mould, and of course if you had butter on your fingers then the mould would become very slippery, and this might account for dropping the thing which has caused all the damage

[Anne]

It works so well in your Play Doh, that I'm now thinking of pie tops - pastry would be a similar consistency, unlike biscuit dough which is stiffer and denser.  Perhaps to make small pies for street parties - Prince of Wales connection.

Paul, yes exactly that's what made me doubt it's for butter.