Topic: Lidded butter dishes...REWARD OFFERED! (Plus, more Nazeing and other glass)

[sph@ngw]

I have recently purchased 42 beautiful hand made circular butter dishes ( in green amber, amethyst, and pale blue). Period from 1935 to 1955). A round base with a thick i/4inch protruding lip.They are 5ins diameter and 4 1/2inch high. All hand blown not pressed with a ball handle on thelight, delicate lid. Both lid and base have been hand ground and cork polished and the glass quality is superb. I believe they are English , (I thought Whitefriars or webbs) but have not found them in any catalogue. they could have been a sample run and possibly made for Heals or Liberty's of London because of provenance.
 I offer a free lidded butter dish, of your colour choice,to the first person who can identify them for me with a catalogue reference as proof. I may sell a few on eBay with a starting price of £29.95. Apart from Baccarat,  I have not seen a finer or more delicate and pretty butter container!
I can email a picture if needs be but have not yet mastered how to send pictures here!
Good luck and may the quickest win!
Stephen.
SECOND PICTURE ADDED

[catshome]

Hi Stephen,

I wondered what made them butter pots, rather than powder pots.  Please excuse my lack of experience, it's just that the only butter ones I've seen had flatter bases with covers, rather than bowls, and these are so pretty I can imagine them on a dressing table.  Unless it's the angle of the picture?

I wish I knew the answer though as the purple ones are gorgeous!

Kind regards
Cat

[vidrioguapo]

Hi.  Is it possible to have a side on photo to see the profile of base and lid? Thanks.  I am up for an amethyst one too!  Emmi

[Lustrousstone]

I don't suppose the butter dishes are Whitefriars but I found this Although the only colours listed in the 57 catalogue are flint and twilight, the colours in the photos don't look a million miles away from Whitefriars

[Anne]

They are similar for sure, Christine. I just checked the catalogue sizes and the W/f one (M.103) is 6½" diameter against Stephen's 5" diameter.

A side-view shot of one of Stephen's may be useful though if at all possible?

[Lustrousstone]

Round seems to be very common for vintage butter dishes, for example the Bagley carnival one from the 1930s, many, if not all, of the 1930s US Depression ones, the European carnival ones, the Whitefriars example I found...

[nigel benson]

Hmmm,

Butter, butter everywhere,  but not a glass to drink.............

Stephen very kindly brought a blue example of the butter dish to the Cambridge Glass Fair on the 18th of last month. Its construction was very interesting indeed. The rib, or flang that the lid sits on is at 'right angles' to the body of the vessel, such that it is paralell to the surface that the dish is standing upon. When the lid is removed the body of the vessel continues on a curve above the flang. It finally finishes with a polished rim that is also paralell to the surronding surface.

This is not consistant with the W/F 1957 catalogue illustration of a butter dish(?), which has an upward curving rim to its base. The lid's knop handle is also markedly different, having horizontal shaping around its mid-point.

Having been lucky enough to handle Stephen's blue example I have to say that the intensity of the blue reminds me of nothing British, but rather, as I suggested on the day, it is consistant with the work of Sandvik (Orresfors). Whether or not the other colours conform to this source is another question. Other contenders to the blue colour could be Czech, or even Murano - I have candlesticks that have that same intensity.

Nigel 

[sph@ngw]

Andy McConnell cameto stay recently and saw all four colour butter dishes. he feels they are CZECH/ EASTERN EUROPEAN....in fact the intenseness and quality, particulary of the blue and smoke make him think of Riedel immediately post war. I might ask Corning Glass Museum, they may ahve soem catalogues and if there is not one in their collection, they might welcome one!

[NazeingResearch]

Bumping thread with new photographs and dimensions. Hopefully this will help setlle the identity of these butter dishes (if thats what they are at all)

Dimensions:

14.5 cm Diameter, 12.5 cm High (from base to top of lid)
5.75 Inches Diameter, 4.75 Inches High (from base to top of lid)










Any ideas?

[sph@ngw]

Cat is probably right, especially if these do date from the late 1940's early '50s! Women used a "powder puff dipped into a bowl of talc face powder (I'm sure you are all FAR too youg to remeber!).  Also butter came in slabs not round "churn" shaped barrels.
I just call them butter dishes as that is their ideal current usage.
How on earth has one of our cats, ( the ginger one called 'Chablis' as he starting licking Chablis out of the glasses when a kitten!) managed to lean to flip of the glass lid on the dining table when no one is looking and lick the butter? I though cats did not have opposable thumbs!