A riddle


My sister Teri bought this little wonder in a Dutch curiosity shop as it would fit well to their country kitchen furnished with similar objects trouvés. It will even get along well with the fellow Dutch embroidered splash-guard from the last century. As a practical person, however, she would like to know its original use, hoping that she could use it for the same purpose.


The board of 25×40 centimeters has two little shelves fastened to it at a distance of about 15 cm. They have six notches each like a wooden spoon holder. But the notches are much smaller than that, only 3 millimeters large, and the hole at their end is 5 mm in diameter. Seen from above it looks like this:


The object has a signature as well, “J.E. (?) 1984” in the right lower corner, and a label with the inscription “Corrie en Krijn / Lageweg / Hellevoetsluis / 1984” on the back side. Somebody has already tried to scrape off the label (it is interesting that everybody starts it at the upper right corner) but then changed his/her mind.



Teri has called upon my expertise in things odd and obscure, and I, on my side, place my hopes in the experiences and helpfulness of the Benevolent Readers. I’m interested in every solution.

3 comentarios:

Julia dijo...

¡Qué misterio!
Debería ser para algún utensilio que ocupe la parte central que no está decorada. Algo de forma alargada que vaya de un estante al otro...(pienso en algo como pinchos de brochette o tenedores largos de fondue). Es decir para 6 objetos, no 12, supongo.

Studiolum dijo...

Sí, yo también pensaba a algo como un espejo central, mas para eso el espacio es demasiado pequeño. Y para los seis bucos, quizá agujas de media…

Julia dijo...

Habría que pensar en comidas típicas holandesas o costumbres típicas (porque no se sabe si era un objeto de cocina originalmente ¿no es cierto?)
Ojalá algún holandés nos visite pronto...