Ebay Trapdoor #002: A rabbithole of Dutch pewter

There is [still] so much treasure to be found!

Mar 17, 2023

High Thought is intimate, weekly-ish infusion of (high) thoughts that are a mixture of frivolous and (sometimes) profound, if I’m lucky. Written with consideration for those interested in the creative process or personal peek behind the curtain into a particularly chaotic brain room. Usually written in tandem with plants for encouragement and flair.

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My Short & Unexpected Pewter Journey

Here we are again, another Ebay Trapdoor. There are a lot of these so-called trapdoors in my life. I never know what’s on the other side until it’s happening. And most of the time I don’t even realize it’s happening until I’ve been immersed for hours.

I’m not sure how I got there, but the other week I ended up looking at pewter vessels. I came across this odd beauty.

Tall, tapers down sexily (but not too sexily) on the curve, short & to-the-point spout with a nice collar on it. And then just look at the handle. There is absolutely no function in there.

How are you supposed to pour? Are you supposed to pour? I was obviously in love and I couldn’t believe the price ($32 incl. shipping) for such a tall and odd *freak*. I bought her.

For a couple of days after I got her, she held an orchid.

Now that I’ve returned home, she has a new set of flowers.

This photo was taken with a flash and my phone. David Lopez, who I wrote about previously, actually turned me onto the Profoto A2. I love it, hehe. It’s the size of a can of Coke. ❤️

The Pewter Road

I knew pewter wasn’t 100% of one thing because it isn’t on the periodic table as a standalone element. Pewter is a mixture of different elements or metals. Metal alloy, it’s called.

In fact, a quick description from Wikipedia (okkkk I’m a journalist??) cleared it up:

The term pewter covers a variety of alloys consisting primarily of tin. As a pure metal, tin is much too soft to use for most practical purposes. However, during the Bronze Age, tin was a rare metal in many parts of Europe and the Mediterranean, so it was often valued higher than gold. To make jewellery, cutlery, or other objects from tin, workers usually alloyed it with other metals to increase strength and hardness. These metals were typically lead, antimony, bismuth or copper. (wiki)

(lol imagine one of you got angry that I didn’t cite Wiki. Well here you go just in case, imagined loser!) 😛

Anyway, then I was like Wait wait ok what are the deets on mine?

So I went back to the ebay listing.

Ok it’s from Holland — very cool, very cool.

Sooo it’s Dutch and there is this word “Metawa”…

I came across this incredible website which lists a vast list of the different “Modern Dutch Pewter Marks” with pictures and estimated dates of operation next to them.

Metawa (1 of 2 different marks)

And then I went to to check mine:

obsessed with the little drawing. it’s cute & refined at the same time.

That is pretty cool to me!

My Pewter Vessel’s Purpose

So, I dove a little bit deeper because I wondered if this should always be a vase or if I should sometimes bring it outside to serve water or even a bottle of wine if I’m feeling crazy. Pewter at one point contained lead in its mixture of metals…⚠️

And sure enough:

So my next question:

Obviously I went to go see if the ebay listing had an estimation of when mine was from:

Lead banned in 1974, my vase likely is “mid-century”….

⚠️MY TALL FREAK PROBABLY CONTAINS LEAD⚠️

So yeah I’m gonna:
*🌸* just use it as a vase
*⛔️🍷* not serve wine out of it
*👩🏼‍🔬* like…not be obsessed with touching it, lol.

Lastly, it’s important that you know that I know that this is not a pretty flower arrangement. I wish you call could have seen with with the orchid. Anyway, I went back to the drawing board for another 2 minutes and I’ve come back with this picture. Different from the first.

Also through my phone. (Those highlights…it’s giving iPhone.)

A Timely Moment to Consider Dutch Pewter

I was reflecting on my Dutch pewter a lot this week because I was in Amsterdam for some work-related meetings and to hang out with two of my favorite people, Kim & Fi(ona). On Saturday, we all went to the Rijksmuseum (as I often do on these meetings trips…the vibes are unimaginably high!) — dutch still life is my favorite genre of painting because feels like a particularly close cousin to contemporary photography in terms of the photorealism as well as the subject matter: food, table detritus, flowers, wine, dead fish, etc. Not to be this (incredible) stereotype but…it was p radical back then ok!