as you'd expect, the original design was for the shape only, and as you can see in the attached drawing, Sowerby's own description says 'vase' - no mention of the word spill.
I should know, but can't now recall - are there factory drawings that actually use the word spill - the assumption that this one was for spills appears to have been a description added later.
If you look in Slack, for example, those pieces he describes as spill vases are generally taller and narrower - which is what you'd expect bearing in mind the length of spills.
I say this remembering childhood Christmases when we used to make a spill holder for Grandfather, and the basic tubular shape was created from the cardboard inner tube from a toilet roll, then covering it with some brightly coloured crepe paper............ I have a feeling we had to buy the spills.
In view of the height of this one, is it more likely to have been some form of posy vase rather than a spill holder?