Topic: upside down storage jars

[Ivo]

The one on the left is from the shelves of a local pharmacy where it held powdered sulfur as long as the owner could remember. The more recent version on the right has an Iittala sticker - but is not in the Iittala 125 book.

Any light anyone can shed on these, please. 

[ahremck]

I wonder if the Iittala piece really sat the other way up in some sort of metal(or other) cage.  Discard the cork(which seems very modern to me) and it would then look very like a bulb vase.

The sulphur powder one is a more interesting to me.  Maybe it was designed to have the powder not clog and so when you used it the tipping motion tended to "aerate" the sulphur and make it very powdery prior to use.

Ross

[Lustrousstone]

I think these upside down things with corks were fashionable for storage in the 1970s/80s. Though probably not the sulphur bottle thingy.

(US spelling of sulphur Ivo  )

[Ivo]

I tried  "Sulphur" , Christine - but you have no idea how abusive this computer got. It's a new one and I'm still trying to teach it how to spell potato.

The Iittala is definitely no bulb vase.

I'm wondering now if upside down storage is a new invention...

[robbo]

The Iittala is Muna designed by Annaleena Hakatie, 1996. Two sizes, 180mm and 280mm, pattern #2809. They are illustrated in Iittala 125 (p.254), storing what look like tiny shallots and carrots.

[Ivo]

Fab, thank you. I must have been thrown by the carrots!

[Anne]

A same-shaped item is shown in an undated Målerås catalogue as
Skyltglas med kork - in three sizes 125 mm, 175 mm, 235 mm - I still have no clue what it was used for though!

[kerstinfroberg]

The undated Målerås catalogue must be later than 1924, since that was the first registering of that name. (before that it was called Strömsborgs glasbruk)

The word skyltglas is not very helpful, but since the catalogue contains several shop-display items my guess is that it was meant to use for displaying something in a shop.
(Skylt means sign, or display: skyltfönster = display window)

Considering the style of the catalogue, I would guess it was printed before 1950, possibly earlier.

Not very helpful, but...

[Anne]

Thanks Kerstin, I was a bit stumped by skyltglas as Google's translator gives plate glass for it, but for skylt glas is offers display glass which matches what you said and sounds far more appropriate.

[kerstinfroberg]

yes - a "problem" with Swedish is the compound words - we can combine all kinds of words, and: they *shall* be written without a blank, or all schoolteachers and language police will get angry.

OTOH, the "problem" with English is the opposite... where I have one nicely defined word in Swe, and have to make it into two or three for googling in Eng, I get soooo many "wrong" results...