ABSTRACT
What knowledge is transported through the material of sculpture? This chapter looks at butter sculpture, inquiring why butter was used at different times in different contexts and what particular message its use conveyed. It focuses on the long nineteenth century when butter went from being a homemade product to a highly industrialized one, and thus moved from the female domestic sphere to the male sphere of factories and industry. The chapter explores various works of art history—notably, Antonio Canova’s Butter Lion and Caroline Shawk Brooks’ Dreaming Iolanthe—and discusses intersections between art history and technological developments of the time. Brooks, for example, was not only well-versed in artistic self-promotion but also invented new methods of making and cooling her butter sculptures.
