Sunday 14 November 2010

What the heck is this?

I have lots of vintage and antique items in the shop that are no longer seen on a regular basis, so it is no surprise that I sometimes have customers ask what these things are, and how they were originally used. After talking to the original owners and doing my own research, adding a little imagination, I can usually give them a pretty good idea.

However, there are times when I buy something for the shop and have absolutely no idea what it is!!

Thought I'd share those items when they arrive and see if anyone can help. Email me or comment on this page.

So, here goes...

 "Blue and white ceramic dish with numbers on"

This is a two piece item
The base is a saucer shape with a raised centre so that the top fits snugly around it
Saucer measures 17.5cms across
Raised center is 10cms across
It is solid and quite heavy
It is blue and white but the white has a definite blue/grey hue

The top piece fits loosely into the saucer
There is a hole in the centre and 8 'sections' identified
Each section is separated with an indentation that is numbered facing outwards
It is 11.5cms across
The hole in the centre is 3.5cms
It stands 3cms tall

Don't think there is any doubt the manufacturer
 The item is marked in green with three towers and B&G (Bing & Grondahl) Kjobenhavn (Copenhagen) to the base
 Also has number 602. on the base
 Lovely classic B&G blue decoration




Ideas so far...

 - A prawn serving dish where the prawns are seated on the numbers and as they are removed you have a record of how many you have eaten?
 - An ashtray for 8 smokers who are given a personal number spot as they don't want to get their cigarettes confused?
 - Some kind of child's marble game where the marbles are rolled down each number to the central hole?
 - A cheese dish for small round cheese for 8 people on a diet as they can only scoop out of of the small hole by their own number?
 - A cake cover for a teensy cake for 8 tiny appetites?
 - A fondu fork holder for 8 to keep the fork off the tablecloth between dippings?
 - ?

9 comments:

  1. at first i thought it might be a pill holder, used to keep track of pills taken during the day. But I divisions don't make sense so i guess it's not.

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  2. While I cannot shed any light on it's purpose or use, I can confirm the factory marking is that used between 1962 & 1970.

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  3. I'd take a guess that it was used for an ashtray during card games so that people wouldn't mix up their cigarettes while playing.

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  4. Thanks Darian - I'm leaning to that conclusion myself too. I'm going to research I bit more as I'm sure it wouldn't be the only one of its kind and see if I can find another example. Thanks

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  5. Hi I'm Olrik from DK I don't know how far back the Høng Camembert cheese goes.
    But that was the first thing I had in mind when I saw this piece :)
    Typical 8 slices wrapped up and looks like it fits.

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    Replies
    1. Hi
      Thanks for this information - its as good an idea as I have seen so far! Thanks

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  6. It is apparently called a BRUSH SHALL, although I have no idea what it is used for. I will let you know once a Dutch shop I emailed replies to me around the 9th of August (currently closed but they have sold an EXACT COPY of this thing.

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  7. Hello. My friend has a recycled treasure store and recently purchased a storage unit that went up for auction. We came across the same exact item shown listed above. My first thought was for cigarettes, and my mother in law thought it was for cheese.. Did you ever get an exact answer?

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  8. No sorry no exact answer just some good ideas! Thanks

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