Khnotsi, a butter churn

The khnotsi is a device in which butter was churned from matsun, cream or sour cream. It was an essential item in every peasant family. Churning was given to young girls or daughters-in-law, while separating the finished butter from the buttermilk was the work of experienced, older women. In some villages of Armenia this tradition has survived to this day.

There were 2 kinds of khnotsi in Armenia: a clay vessel churned while sitting on the floor, and a clay or wooden vessel with projections on its edges, hung from the ceiling beams and churned with the hands or feet by pushing it back and forth. The khnotsi was kept in the most secluded place in the house or in the hatsatun, the bread house where the tonir stood, because breaking it was considered a bad omen.

In the photograph a woman in national dress sits on the grass churning a large clay khnotsi hung on ropes.