Vintage Butter Dish/Caviar Server with Drain

This Vintage Dish with its pierced drain was made by Elkington Silversmiths, circa 1930's. The Birmingham-based Elkington was one of the most respected makers of hotel silver for the grand restaurants, hotels, railways and shipping lines of the day.

The dish bears an engraved badge with two nautical flags, most likely the emblem of a shipping line, and would have been used in the dining rooms aboard ship. 

Its pierced, removable drain was designed to keep butter pats chilled with shaved ice below.

Today, we love to use this generously sized dish to serve caviar.  The glass container of one's favorite caviar sits atop the crushed ice.

In addition to caviar, this serving piece is perfectly sized to serve nuts or olives at cocktail time, chocolates at dessert time, or to hold cut lemons and limes on a bar set-up.

The vintage offerings in our collection of European hotel silver & barware are restored and re-plated in pure silver in London by our longtime silversmiths. Even with restoration, some of the pieces may sport more patina than others due to their unique history and use which we think only adds to their character and allure.

Silver-plated

Overall Height: 2", Upper Dish: 5" diam, Lower Dish: 7" Base diam.