PLACE REPRESENTED: Market Drayton, Shropshire, England

ITEM: Trivet

NOTES: Nice trivet that can also be a display. A buttercross, also known as butter cross, is a type of market cross associated with English market towns and dating from medieval times. The one depicted is in Market Drayton, in the country of Shropshire, England. Northern Shropshire is famous for its cheeses and dairy products, hence the market (or Buttercross) in the line drawing, which was built in 1824. The town once had a court of ‘pied poudre’; here litigants could settle their differences immediately they reached market – in other words, while they still had dusty (or powdered) feet.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: ceramic material, cork (base)

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 15cm diameter