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Objects of Design #109: Vintage Storage Tins

vintage collectable storage tin
vintage collectable storage tin

There are so many different sorts of storage jars out there and, I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the pre-labelled ones for the most part. My own storage jars are all the same Quatre Saison with the gold lids in varying sizes. I prefer glass so you don’t need a label and you can see at a glance how much is left.

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side view of the droste tin

But I will make an exception for a good tin. And this is a good tin. This one is from Mora Approved and I’ll let them explain it to you.

“The Droste effect is an illustration style where an image appears within itself in a place where a similar picture would realistically appear. While it sounds like the plot for Inception, it was the inspiration for MC Escher’s mind-bending drawings in the 1950’s – the most famous being the never ending stairs of Relativity.

MC Escher's Relativity
MC Escher’s Relativity

This tin is thought to be about 70 years old and came from a flea market in Amsterdam. If you look closely you can see the image of the nurse holding the tray with the tin and the image of the nurse and so on and so on.

If you don’t fancy that tin, then they have another; featuring illustrations of Jip and Janneke – well-known child characters by the famous Dutch illustrator Fiep Westendorp.

vintage Dutch Fiep Westendorp Collectible Tin
vintage Dutch Fiep Westendorp Collectible Tin

The Droste tin is £45 and the other is £15. But look out for your own vintage tins. They’re great for tea, coffee and biscuits.

 

 

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

1 Comment

  1. Love that tin… I admit I got confused by the explanation of the Droste effect, but then I looked again and saw the nun repeated ad infinitum and immediately got a big case of the “I wants”. Fabulous!

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