Butter dish - Aluminium - Piston-powered Zangola

Piston butter churn in aluminum – Italy, 1930s–1950s
The piston churn was the traditional tool for home production of butter. Fresh cream was poured into the cylindrical body, closed with the lid and the piston was operated with vertical movements: the perforated disk stirred the cream until the fats separated, yielding butter. A simple, effective tool, present in every Italian peasant household until the mid-twentieth century.
This specimen is entirely in turned aluminum, of Italian production. Complete in all its original components: cylindrical body with widened base, lid with a central through hole, piston with perforated disk punched by hand and hook in wrought iron.
The turned chalice-like shape, the semi-handcrafted workmanship and the material reflect Italian rural production of the interwar period, when aluminum progressively replaced wood and tin in the manufacture of domestic and agricultural utensils.
Authentic vintage patina. Slight signs of use and natural oxidation of aluminum. Light rust on the iron pin of the piston. No cracks, no dents, no missing pieces.
Rare piece in its complete state.