Found this at an estate sale. It’s like a bowl that’s 3/4 covered. I thought it might be a dried flower vase for a wall, but there’s no place on the back to hang it. No inventions for smokables. Anyone have any ideas what it is?

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    154 days ago

    No specific insight, but my instinct says it’s just a design/decorative choice. Whether you want to use it for pistachios or car keys, the covered section seems like it would affect the aesthetic much more than function since the hole is big enough for a whole hand.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    11
    edit-2
    3 days ago

    Scrolled through this online museum for arabia stuff but didn’t find that design. They don’t claim to have everything though, just some 2000+ designs…

    http://arabia.kokoelma.fi/etusivu_esittely.aspx

    But there should be more info on the bottom to help identify it! Something like this, that would hopefully have name of the series

    Edit: found this posting on a Finnish site:

    https://www.tori.fi/recommerce/forsale/item/15126547

    Still no idea what it’s for but it’s listed as a bowl. Probably just an art piece of a bowl without a specific purpose. Designer’s name is Gunnel Sallmen

    Edit2: More info on some Japanese website, no idea how credible. http://www.hamon-okayama.jp/item/583/?mode=pc

    Machine translation below:

    Manufacturer: ARABIA.
    ■Series: Art Department Vase.
    ■Size (cm): φ13, height 3.5.
    ■Era: 60S.
    ■Design: Gunnel Salmen.
    This is a flat vase made by Arabia’s art department, the Art Department. It was designed by Gunnel Salmen. The Arabia Art Department was an art department that did not aim for mass production, but allowed creators to create freely.
    Finland’s most famous designers, such as Kaj Franck and Kaipianen, were on staff.
    The number of pieces produced was very small, making it very rare even in Finland.

    • @MaddestMaxOP
      link
      English
      53 days ago

      Wow!!! You’re a legend!! 🙏🏻 Thank you! I can’t believe you found it. Fascinating!! You gotta tell me, how long did it take you to find this? I spent maybe 20 and gave up. Lol! You are very impressive! You have my gratitude!

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        7
        edit-2
        3 days ago

        Thanks, like an hour or a bit more :D was a lot of fun though, learned a lot on a topic I have no reason to research. Unfortunately I saw your post while already laying on bed and ADHD kicked in with a promise of dopamine if I sacrificed some sleep

        Embarrassingly the silver bullet was to cave in and do a Google reverse image search, found the 2 listings in like 5min lmao

        • @MaddestMaxOP
          link
          English
          23 days ago

          Ha! I know exactly what you mean! That urge to find the info even when you don’t really care about the subject. Sucks you in. And then you have some great useless info. :) Well, it’s much appreciated and you definitely get the solve credit! 👊🏻

  • Zier
    link
    fedilink
    54 days ago

    Salsa bowl. It stops your drunk guests from tipping it over!

  • @makeshiftreaper
    link
    English
    54 days ago

    I have zero experience with pottery or Finland so this is just a guess: possibly a necklace display piece? It has a shape like you’d display a necklace on and the black ovals could be good contrast for jewelry?

    • @MaddestMaxOP
      link
      English
      24 days ago

      Good guess. I could definitely see it being used as a display piece.