Box Turtle Butter Dish

Hand-built on Spanish red sculpture clay and painted in layered Cacao and Goldenrod shino glazes, this is the butter dish as woodland still life. Abby Snyder began making turtles during the pandemic, shaping the dome of the shell first, then the plastron below to hold the butter, scoring each piece by hand with a needle tool before two rounds in the kiln. She draws the shell pattern from eastern box turtles observed in the wild, occasionally adding a notch to the shell the way researchers mark turtles they're studying in the field. No two are ever exactly alike. As much a conversation piece as a daily ritual object, it holds its own on a breakfast table, a cheese board, a Sunday spread.

Material: Spanish red sculpture clay
Finish: Layered Cacao and Goldenrod shino glazes
Care: Hand wash only
Note: Each piece is handmade and individually painted; no two are alike