Week 15 - Episode 81 - Ornamental Handles

Some handles make you wonder whether the object they’re attached to was ever used: they’re almost too beautiful - or fragile - to hold.

In the mid 18th century, porcelain accessories like the fanciful hatted head above were often exchanged as gifts or love-tokens. Here the handle has become a thing of beauty, to be admired rather than held.

Cane handle, Meissener Porzellan Manufaktur, c. 1730 - c. 1735, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Would you dare to hold the handles on this delicately carved ivory stacking box?

Stacking box, Kanton, anonymous, c. 1800 - before 1815, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Today, look for ornamental handles.

Handles which are impractical but tell great stories.

About the wealth and power of their owner for example. Or about their desire for beauty.

Share your finds using the hashtag #kramerseye on Twitter or Instagram.

Listen to today’s podcast

Week 15 - Episode 80 - Too Hot to Handle

Damp and cold sheets may not be a problem for you, but they were in the 17th century. Without adequate heating and ventilation, getting into bed could be a very chilling experience. Enter the warming-pan: filled with coals it was moved swiftly between the sheets using the long handle, just before someone wanted to get into bed.

Handling these was rather dangerous because of the hot coals straight from the fire, hence the long handle.

Handles not only help us carry things - they also protect us from heat.

And not just from hot coals: when we’re cooking pretty much everything we handle has handles.

Today, we’re looking at the protective handles. And not just from heat: how about hammers?

They evolved from a large rock which was rather risky to use to an incredibly smart, balanced out tool which allows you to nail something without serious injury.

Hammer from the ‘Behouden Huys’, Nova Zembla, ca. 1590-1596, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Today, keep your eye out for any handles that protect you from harm.

On the subway.

In your kitchen.

In the toolshed.

Capture them and share them using the hashtag #kramerseye on Twitter or Instagram.

Listen to today’s podcast

Week 15 - Episode 79 - Hold my Beer

Today’s episode aims to instil gratitude for handles that help you hold, carry, lug products.

Think laundry detergent.

Huge packages of toilet paper.

Buckets full of paint.

Party-sized wine boxes.

Thanks to their bail handles you can, well, handle them.

The material now used, plastic or metal, is new.

The concept is very old.

Proto-Geometric amphora, c. 975–950 BCE, Lumen Learning

Amphora and their characteristic handles date back to the neolithic period. The largest stand 1.5m (5 ft) tall and would be pretty hard to handle without something to hold on to.

Beer and wine have been stored and consumed in jugs with handles for centuries.

And one of the most viewed, but probably not noticed, handles is that of the jug in Vermeer’s famous Milkmaid.

The Milkmaid, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1660, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Today, look for those handy package handles.

Check out your pantry, wander around the aisles in a big supermarket, or visit your garage.

Capture handles that help you hold products and share them on Twitter or Instagram, using the hashtag #kramerseye

Listen to today’s podcast

Week 15 - Episode 78 - Get a Grip

How do you hold, carry, bear or wield something which is sharp, hot, slippery, large wet or otherwise impossible to get a grip on?

You use a handle.

It’s incredible how many handles you handle throughout the day.

They’re on teapots, handbags, hammers.

They help you pull out drawers, stay up straight in public transport, carry an umbrella.

Life would be rather hard to handle without handles.

And many times, in addition to helping you hold something, they are beautifully designed, merging form and function, as in the gorgeous Chinese dragon handle above.

Today, start spotting those handy handles. And capture them.

Share them using the hashtag #kramerseye on Twitter or Instagram.

Listen to today’s podcast.