Ideal Home: This quirky kitchenware trend is surging in popularity – I've found the best places to get your hands on one
I was featured in Ideal Home magazine, giving my thoughts on why quirky butter dishes are trending. You can read the article here:
https://www.idealhome.co.uk/all-rooms/kitchen/butter-dish-trend
I love butter dishes and I’m delighted to see that they’re back, so here are some further thoughts.
I think the return of the butter dish is interesting, and part of a larger shift towards more intentional living. It's not just part of an interiors trend, but a larger shift in what we consume. Many of us grew up on margarine but some people are turning away from processed spreads packaged in plastic and going back to butter.
What people like about them
People are idealising a slow placed rural lifestyle. That's not obtainable for most of us but as discussed in the article, 'cottagecore' lets us play at it with our decor. People are embracing traditional floral aesthetics, well made kitchen items that will be loved for decades, and simple rituals - using a fun butter dish turns making our morning toast from a mundane task into an event.
Nostalgia is a factor. Minimalism has made many kitchen items more utilitarian in appearance, and it's a hark back to an age of fun.
Personality - it's an easy and low cost way of adding a pop of colour to a kitchen.
Whether it’s likely to be a lasting trend
The hype around 'quirky' butter dishes may fade, but the desire for sustainable living and more thoughtful design is here to stay, I believe, so butter dishes will remain an item that people want and need. I'm personally hoping the trend will extend to the cow creamer - a novelty jug shaped like a cow, incredibly popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.
History of butter dishesIn the 18th and 19th centuries butter became an important part of the European diet, so dishes to keep it in followed. In the Georgian era tableware became linked to status, so more elaborate and elegant butter dishes were produced. The Victorian era was a period of mass production, so decorative items became accessible to the middle classes and novelty butter dishes, shaped like animals or leaves, became popular. The rise of the refrigerator in the 20th century, and the move to margarine, made butter dishes less necessary - though in the middle of the century they remained a core part of a good dinner set.
My favourite quirky butter dishes
The gallery above shows a selection of my favourites. Here’s a little more information on what you’re seeing.
The Victorians loved quirky kitchen items even more than we did. You can elevate your morning toast by serving your butter from a piece of solid silver. These shell-shaped dishes are popular and can be picked up for around £25.
https://auctionet.com/en/3874650-a-late-victorian-silver-shell-butter-dish
Cows are always popular motifs for a butter dish. Cartoon cows abounded in the 1990s, but this shows how to do it with a little more elegance.
https://auctionet.com/en/events/699-autumn-fine-art-sale/83-a-victorian-silver-butter-dish-cover
Rosenthal's Versace 'Gold Ivy' butter dish is instant glamour for any dinner table. Naturalistic motifs in up-to-date colours with a gold flourish.
https://auctionet.com/en/4365709-versace-rosenthal-butter-dish-the-ivy-gold-rimmed
Marianne Westman's Picnic design is incredibly sought after. It's a classic of mid-century design.
https://auctionet.com/en/4348326-marianne-westman-a-picnic-porcelain-butter-box-rorstrand
Stig Lindberg's Bersa series is another mid-century pattern that's so hot right now Gustavsberg have put it back into production. It's tasteful quirk!
https://auctionet.com/en/1466624-butter-change-bersa-stig-lindberg-gustavsberg
