Butter Mold c. 1941

This butter mold was made by Michael Rekucki, sometime before 1971. Think about that: before the era of tubs of spreadable, vaguely buttery substance, you stamped your butter. The relief is quite lovely. Look closely and you can see the care put into depicting the cow. The lines are carved deep and the marks describing the animal’s fur and the surrounding foliage create a graphic texture. Imagine pressing pats of butter with this and serving it at the table – it’s so charming, so wholesome. The radiating ridges on the outer edge seem a bit much though. It’s almost too perfect. It’s tempting to compare this to the work of woodblock print artists like Franz Masereel or even some of the German Expressionists. What seems different about this is its relation to function. The beauty of the butter mold lies in the way it elevates the everyday.