This is the bottom of a round butter dish in the Dresden Hopfen pattern. Because of the age and the difficulty of finding pieces in the Hopfen pattern, the base is being listed even though the dome top is missing and it is in less than perfect condition.

There is crazing and staining noted on the verge of the round base. Yet, it is without chips or nicks. The base has a shallow bowl like shape and can be used as a small serving bowl if desired. It measures 7 1/4" across except from tab handle to tab handle where it is 7 3/4" wide.

From the late 1800's, this Alfred Meakin of England transfer ware pattern is named "Dresden Hopfen". Hopfen is the German word for Hops, the flowering vine used in brewing beer, and also the leafy vine in this pattern. Dresden is a German city where the Hopfen plant flourished as well as being known for the home of fine china and pottery. The transfer pattern is a grayish color (almost grayish green) trimmed in black and highlighted with gold. The pattern is very similar to the Alfred Meakin "Oban" and a few other patterns around that time period. The Meakin mark is a version of the globe backstamp used from 1875 to 1891.