Recognising and understanding the object
- Materials
- wood, metal or leather joints depending on the example
- Parts
- pressing boards, tightening mechanism or frame
- Purpose
- Compress cheese curd and allow liquid to drain.
- Period
- Context of nineteenth- and twentieth-century household collections and historical accounts; individual objects differ in date.
- Place and distribution
- An account from Miliai and collections at Nalšia and Kazimieras Būga museums.
What it is and how it works
A sūrspaudis compresses cheese curd. Its boards or supporting surfaces connect to a tightening arrangement. The action is pressure; it does not replace the earlier curdling of milk and does not itself define the later ageing process.
Evidence and examples
The account of wooden implements from Miliai records a screw-operated press and discusses a framed type. These provide a useful pair of constructions to compare. Nalšia and Kazimieras Būga museums place cheese presses within household dairying.
How to identify it
Identify the moving part, the support for the curd and a possible route for liquid to escape. This distinguishes the implement from a general woodworking clamp. The shape of wooden boards cannot establish the cheese ingredients or pressing time: those belong in a documented recipe rather than an object label.
