Butter stamp

A butter stamp or butter print^[1] is a device for stamping or shaping a design onto a block of warm butter.^[2]

British butter stamp featuring a thistle, held in the Auckland War Memorial Museum

Irish butter stamp, with mould for the block, and below a bain-marie for hot water to soften the butter

Butter stamps were sometimes commercial but usually purely decorative and applied in homes.^[3] They were typically made of wood and feature simple designs of cows, flowers or geometric patterns and, if commercial, the name of the retailer.^[4]

Often, they formed part of a box-like mould for forming the whole block. Other designs achieved the same effect by carving the design at the bottom of a butter mould.^[5] Part of the intent for commercial moulds and stamps was to demonstrate consistency in the quantity of butter sold.