What are these things we found in my Mother-in-Law's china cabinet?

January 2, 2019 1:17 PM

My wife is helping her mother get rid of a bunch of old stuff, and inside the china cabinet, we found a couple of objects that we couldn't figure out a purpose for. Here are some photos. (Banana for scale.)

One is brass and the other is a clear plastic. Both have little hooks that look like you could hang them from the inside of a bowl of some sort. They have rings where you could probably set a smaller bowl (or ash tray) inside of them and one has what appears to be a candle holder attached to it.

We're a Jewish family, which may or may not have anything to do with it. They were in a china cabinet with dishes, which also may or may not have anything to do with it.

posted by ErWenn to Grab Bag (14 answers total)

I would guess some kind of punch bowl or ice bucket insert, which would latch onto the inside of the bowl, and hold a smaller bowl, a spoon rest, or keep a bottle in place.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:34 PM on January 2, 2019

I would guess some kind of punch bowl or ice bucket insert, which would latch onto the inside of the bowl, and hold a smaller bowl, a spoon rest, or keep a bottle in place.

This is plausible. They don't really fit in the ice bucket that they currently have, although it's possible that they come from a different ice bucket that has since been lost.
posted by ErWenn at 1:46 PM on January 2, 2019

Yeah, insert for something like a bucket or bowl. This is not what they are, but just to show a similar idea, pyrex used to make a chip & dip set that was put together with this piece of bent metal.
posted by I'm Not Even Supposed To Be Here Today! at 1:58 PM on January 2, 2019

The metal one looks like it has a candle snuffer on it to me (the part at the right) though it's an odd shape for one. Not even any guesses on the plastic thing.
posted by stormyteal at 2:07 PM on January 2, 2019

Yeah the first one looks like it could be a ladle rest for a punch bowl. The plastic thing also looks like it hooks onto the edge of some container but is otherwise mystifying.
posted by orrnyereg at 2:08 PM on January 2, 2019

INESTBHT: A dip bowl holder also seems plausible. This would definitely be an inferior design, since the rings here would end up lying below the lip of the large bowl, and the edges of the rings butt would right up against the sides of the bowl, meaning the dip bowl couldn't be more than a few millimeters larger than the rings, and there wouldn't be much room for chips underneath the bowls. It also doesn't explain the candle-holder part, which is the one part that would be outside of the big bowl.

stormyteal: And it does look like a candle snuffer now that you mention it (only upside-down).

orrnyereg: Could be, could be...
posted by ErWenn at 2:10 PM on January 2, 2019

Does a wine bottle rest at an angle in either of those?
posted by iamkimiam at 2:28 PM on January 2, 2019

I thought flower arranging supplies, stored in the china cabinet to use with table centerpieces. (I may need to drink more.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:09 PM on January 2, 2019

iamkimiam: Yes, but only upside-down.
posted by ErWenn at 4:10 PM on January 2, 2019

Maybe the candle-snuffer looking part is for holding toothpicks, to snag food pieces in the putative larger bowl so you can dip them in the smaller dip bowl being held in the loop?
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:22 PM on January 2, 2019

I think it is the chip/dip/toothpick holder.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:28 PM on January 2, 2019

warriorqueen: I think you're right! That picture is pretty conclusive. At least for the wire one.
posted by ErWenn at 6:12 PM on January 2, 2019

We found the bowls that go with the plastic one!

here
posted by ErWenn at 6:55 PM on January 2, 2019

Super cool! Thanks for sharing those final pics!
posted by theRussian at 8:12 PM on January 2, 2019