This is an extraordinarily well-done treen butter print (aka butter press) with initials and beautifully executed thistle flower or strawberry. It is an exquisite and very intricate design, probably as a love token for someone very dear to the maker. If you see this as a thistle flower, then it is adorned with cursive letters “MM”. Rotate it 180 degrees and it looks like a beautiful strawberry, adorned with the initials “WW”. The design is so intricate that even the letters have carved texture behind them. The flower or berry is filled with raised cross-hatching. It has a lollipop handle and is hand carved from a single piece of wood. It measures 3 3/4" diameter x 2 3/4" tall. Wonderful condition with tiny cracks that show it was used daily—dairy dries and bleaches wood. The handle shows a lovely patina from skin oil that touched it daily. 19th century. Likely from Pennsylvania.

Inv. #6761    $450