Butter sculpture

Butter sculpture is an ancient Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Yak butter and dye are used to create temporary symbols for the Tibetan New Year and other religious celebrations.

United States
In North America, the tradition of butter sculptures dates back to the 19th century at agricultural and state fairs in the United States.

The first recorded North American sculpture was created by Carolyn Brooks for the 1876 U.S. Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.

In 1910 the first Buttercow was created by a sculptor only recorded as Mr. Daniels at the Iowa State Fair. The sculpture was sponsored by the Beatrice Creamery of Nebraska, now part of Con-Agra Foods. The exhibit, designed as a way to promote dairy products in the area, was a big hit with fairgoers. Because of its success the butter sculpture was continued each year. Over the years, several different artists have sculpted the Buttercow for the Iowa State Fair. Mr. Daniels created sculptures for the fair through the 1930s. In 1940, Chicago sculptor James Schaumford took over, followed by J.E. Wallace of Florida who held the position until 1956. Following Schaumford&'s lead, Wallace started making an additional butter sculpture for the exhibit each year. This second sculpture typically depicted people in everyday activities such as butter churning, or playing with a dog. This tradition has continued with each sculptor since.. He sculpted the Buttercow each year until 1957, when Frank Dutt became the official sculptor. Dutt was trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and had experience sculpting many materials, from plaster and clay to lard. Over the next few years he sculpted cows in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan, spreading the love of the Buttercow throughout the Midwest United States. His additions to each year's exhibit were far more cartoonish than those of J.E. Wallace, depicting such things as a fight between political party mascots or a parade of smiling pigs.

It was Dutt who trained Norma "Duffy" Lyon, now known widely as The Buttercow Lady. She began her career as an assistant to Frank Dutt in 1959. The previous year she saw a photo of Dutt's Creation and told the fair director she could do better. In 1960, she took over as the sculptor in residence and created a new piece for the fair each year until 2005. Some of her more notable sculptures include likenesses of Garth Brooks, John Wayne, Elvis Presley, and her own full version of The Last Supper, all made of butter. Duffy (a nickname derived from her maiden name, Duffield), as she is lovingly known also sculpted Buttercows for other states such as Illinois and Utah over the years. In 2006, Duffy retired, due to health limitations, and was succeeded by her acquaintance Sarah Pratt.

The process through which the artists work varies according to the sculptor, but often follows the same general steps. Most start with choosing one of the six dairy cattle breeds (Holstein, Guernsey, Jersey, Brown Swiss, Ayershire, and Milking Shorthorn) to recreate. Usually, they produce drawings of the cattle or take several photographs from which to work. As the sculpting actually begins, it is important for the butter to be of the right consistency, which has been described as feeling like cold crème. In total, about 500-600 pounds of butter, the equivalent of 2,400 sticks (enough for 42,000 cookies) is used. Over the years, sculptors moved from working in chilled rooms to large refrigerated display cases with temperatures between 35 and 40 degrees as they do today. The butter is placed on a wooden and wire armature, at first in large amounts to achieve the general shape of the cow, and later in smaller quantities to fine-tune the form. The butter is added layer upon layer until the cow is in its finished form, taking between two days and a week, depending on the artist. Though the sculptors claim it was never a secret that the Buttercow is build on a wooden armature, many people assumed the sculpture was solid, and made entirely from butter, despite the logistical impossibilities.

The Minnesota State Fair has never had a Buttercow, but showcases butter sculpture in another way. The fair commissions carvings in butter of the twelve finalists of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way contest. These finalists are chosen from young Minnesotan women between the ages of 16 and 23 to be Dairy Princesses. Their likenesses are carved from 90 lb. blocks of butter. This is called carving because it is a subtractive process while sculpting is additive. Each of the twelve days of the fair one finalist will be carved, currently by Linda Christensen, a California sculptor originally from Minnesota. While a princess poses on a turning platform in a chilled display case, Ms. Christensen takes about six hours to carve her likeness, all in front of fairgoers, passing by the refrigerated display area. Once the carving is complete it is displayed for the remainder of the fair, and at its closing each dairy princess may take hers home and use it as she wishes (sometimes used at graduation parties or wedding receptions).

Canada
Shortly after the end of World War II, the Ontario Cream Producers Marketing Board and the Dairy Producers of Canada began a campaign to promote their products. Butter sculpting was initiated as part of this campaign along with the slogan "It's better with butter". This was intended to increase butter's market share in competition to the high-powered advertising for margarine in the late 1940s.  Butter sculptures were displayed at both the Canadian National Exhibition and Royal Agricultural Winter Fairs in Toronto. Ross Butler was the first Canadian artist to sculpt in butter at these fairs.  Ross' reputation as a farm animal artist was well known by the dairy people. He seemed like a natural choice for the agricultural theme of the promotion. He created many different life size butter sculptures between 1947 and 1954. Some of the subjects included Bessie the Butter Cow with her calf Buttercup, Barbara the Milkmaid and her butter cow, Ideal Guernsey, Canadian Olympic Figure Skater Barbara Ann Scott, Laura Secord and her cow, Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman and Queen Elizabeth II on her horse Winston. Each sculpture was life sized. They were created in refrigerated, glass cased enclosures and were displayed for the duration of each fair. At the end of the events, the butter was reclaimed and put back in the trade. The last butter sculptures that Ross created were Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at the Western Fair in London, Ontario in 1956. After that, he returned to working in clay with the familiar subjects of cattle and horses.  In 1986, a fitting tribute to Ross Butler at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair included his likeness sculpted in butter by Windsor artist, Christopher Rees.  The art of butter sculpting was briefly brought to the forefront in 2006 via the NPR radio program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!. In the "bluff the listener" section of the program, Paula Poundstone told a tongue-in-cheek story of a career path not taken — Dick Cheney as a renowned butter sculptor. Though only a bluff, it conjured up the delightful image of the Vice President carefully whittling away at a stick of butter in an attempt to win kudos at the Wyoming State Fair.