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In 1932, the Homer Laughlin China Company introduced the square Jade shape. This particular line was discontinued after roughly four years, but the covered butter dish would go on to become a pickup piece for many other lines well into the 1950s.
The Jade covered butter (or "oblong butter" as the factory often called it) was used with many decorted lines. It was also dipped in solid colors for F. W. Woolworth's Harlequin. It was dropped from Harlequin sometime in the mid to late 1940s.
For many years, there has been an implication that the Jade butter dish was a standard piece in Riviera's assortment. However, it does not appear in Riviera brochures, advertisements, or any of the dated order forms from 1941, 1948, and 1950. The most that can be said about the Jade butter in Riviera is that it was picked up when needed, which was not very often.
Jade butter with Virginia Rose's JJ-59
Jade butter with Virginia Rose's W-137
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Jade covered butter in Harlequin yellow
Photo courtesy: David Schaefer
At least two pricing memos were issued indicating the Jade butter was used with Fiesta®. Dated September 27, 1939, the document shown below mentions the butters were made for Bechtel, Lutz, and Joust, Inc. B. L. & J. was one of several major distributors of Homer Laughlin ware. The memo also states the Fiesta butters would be available for "other customers if they want them."
A second factory memo dated January 5, 1940, also mentions the Jade butter in Fiesta glazes with pricing broken down between bodies (bases) and lids.
The Jade covered butter has been found in the first six Fiesta glazes: red, blue, (light) green, yellow, old ivory, and turquoise. Some of these colors, namely red, turquoise, and light green, are easier to find than others since they overlap with Harlequin's.
On January 16, 1939, a factory memo was released noting four pieces added to the Wells Art Glazes line for Gimble Brothers. They include the Tango salt shaker, Tango pepper shaker, Nautilus onion (lug) soup, and the Jade covered butter dish.
Wells Art Glazes was discontinued in 1941, so the four new items were offered for a limited time. Tango shakers and Nautilus lug soups have been found in several of the art glazes. To date, no Jade covered butter has surfaced in any collector book, article, or collector website.
There is no evidence the Jade covered butter was picked up by other solid colored dinnerware lines of the late 1930s and early 1940s such as Tango, Serenade, and Satin Pastels.
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