Glass Bottle
Glass Bottle with ceramic lid and metal clasp, repaired with soy wax
Owner: Anonymous
Repaired by: Tzen Chia in London, 2022
Bottles of this kind – also called growlers – were used to contain and transport beer. This 18th century example, which came from the aunt of the owner’s German grandmother, was recently knocked over, cracking the neck and lid.
Tante Anni. Image Courtesy of Corinna Gardner.
Story
Of her German ancestor, the owner said: “Tante Anni was an important member of the family – and certainly a figure who through her things was a presence in my childhood even though I’m too young to have met her. The bottle is from her holiday home in the countryside near Celle. I have always loved it."
Repair
In recognition of the four generations who have held this bottle in their care, Singapore architect and designer Tzen Chia has mounted the bottle onto a life-size cast of the owner’s hands. Securing the cracks rather than mending them, the use of wax hints at the ephemerality of ownership compared to the durability of the object itself.
╲
╲
╲ ╲
╱
╱
╱ ╱
╲
╲
╲ ╲