Help needed: Orne Jons? Orme Jones? Perfume bottles? It's all Greek to me.

[spqrblues]

Update: Mystery solved. The secret word is "Orrefors."

Update #2: The cat and I confessed, and it was all very Guy de Maupassant. Anyway, the bottle will be stored safely away with the other fragile inherited family items until its stopper arrives.



Sort of like this, but a lot prettier -->

I started the morning by accidentally smashing the stopper of an antique crystal perfume bottle belonging to my mother, out of my own complete stupidity (a cat is perfectly capable of jumping down from a high shelf full of glass objects on her own, she did not need my help). The perfume bottle was originally my mother's mother's or an older sister's, I'm not sure, but in any case, it's old, a heavy crystal that smashed quite thoroughly when it hit the tile floor slightly ahead of the cat, who easily glided over it. There are words in script engraved on the bottom--maybe Orne Jons or Orme Jones. I'm hoping to replace the stopper so I can hide my despicable crime, or maybe find another bottle just like it, but thegoogle isn't providing leads to any bottles that look like this one or a perfume manufacturer with a name like that. The person who can provide a definitive way to replace the bottle or the stopper with a match from the same company will receive in gratitude... umm, I don't have much to offer... the original 11x17 page of art for whenever I finally get this volcano exploded. But please don't tell my mother.

I'll repost this entry with an image of the bottle soon-ish. I just had to put the initial plea out there, or I'd completely snap from this additional straw of stress. I'd search the Manhattan antique mall and any shops that are open today, but I have to get to a convention for work (BEA--Book Expo America).

Something fragile and beautiful survives half a century or more, and I smash it in a second because I make the wrong choice (grab bottle or grab cat?). Also, I think I just took a bath in a tub full of tiny shards of crystal, because I'm bad at cleaning a crime scene, too, apparently.

Oh, yeah, also: the buttons arrived. The folks who made them do great work, but I should refine the designs. I'll post pictures of the pins soon, too.

Comments

[metonymy.livejournal.com]

You may want to check the boards at Makeup Alley; I'd bet some folks there would at least have an idea of who made the bottle or the perfume and could possibly point you in the right direction.

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

I'll give it a try. If that leads to the restoration of my sanity, I'll let you know :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_w_o_o_d_/]

You know, there also is the possibility of blaming the cat. People have been doing this for centuries.

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Strangely, this did not occur to me.

I guess it's not untrue to say, "I have bad news... the cat was up on the shelf... and then at some point later as a result, your antique bottle with huge sentimental value broke."

I have an obsessive need to "fix everything" and "make it all better."

[kyleen66.livejournal.com]

http://antiques.shop.ebay.com/items/Perfume-Bottles__W0QQ_armrsZ1QQ_mdoZAntiquesQQ_msppZQQ_pcatsZ63538Q2c20086Q2c20081QQ_sacatZ63542

Maybe you'll see something there that looks like it?

I'd also take the bottle to an antique dealer and see if they have any help or guidance for you!

Sorry!

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

I spent a lot of time on ebay this morning hoping I could find something exactly the same and Make It Didn't Happen. I'll keep checking back there every now and then. Broken things make me all sad and stuff.

[(Anonymous)]

It's probably stupid of me to say so, but are you sure "Orme Jones" or whatever is a label's name, and not the name of the original buyer? If so, it's logical Google wouldn't give you any information, since it wouldn't be a label but an individual's name.
Sorry I can't give you advice =S I was going to suggest eBay, but I see somebody else did, so all I can offer is sympathy.
Oh, and blaiming the cat is a VERY good option, but only if you know you won't be remorseful later.
Good luck with finding a replacement, though.

Nemo

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I think I've found a match, and so I will fess up and share the blame with the cat. It wasn't *me* sitting up there on that shelf, after all....

The mystery word is "Orrefors."

These bottles are not particularly rare, apparently, but the ones on ebay look slightly less "perfect" in shape than the one here, which was just absolutely, aesthetically perfect--except now I can see a small flaw, a tiny crack, that I don't think was there before. I'll pick the one with the best looking stopper.

[ndgmtlcd.livejournal.com]

On a more constructive note than suggesting an ursine purchase, let me ask you what is the circumference of the opening that the broken stopper used to plug? What's the size of the bottle?

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

My digital camera is still refusing to work. I'll have to draw the bottle or something :P The interior diameter of the neck of the bottle seems to be 1/2 inch, so circumference about 1.57 inches (right? I used to be a math whiz, if you can believe that, but those neurons have degraded). The outer circumference of the neck is 2 inches. And the inside is still plugged with the bottom of the crystal stopper. The bottle is about the size and shape of a peach. And much, much heavier.

I'm calmer than I was earlier--this norning's escapade was just one dumb thing too many, and I know my mother's really attached to that bottle. I'd like to replace the stopper with the genuine article, rather than a substitute, if I can. In fact, now that I'm calmer, my google-fu is improving: a new search led me to these images below, which the bottle looks a lot like. The bottle had a tall slender stopper like the one on the left and is about the same size, but the bottle isn't perfectly round, so is a bit more like the one on the right; but around the bottom it has design cut into it sort of like little orange slices, if that makes sense. Or like a decoratively-cut radish :)

(http://www.dargate.com/245_auction/245_images/1058.jpg) (http://hidden-valley-antiques.com/photos/vsl.JPG)
(left) KOSTA PERFUME BOTTLE Kosta crystal perfume bottle, round body with tall stopper and long dauber. Marked: Kosta BH 548. Size: 3 1/2"H. 2"Diam. widest part.

(right) Val St. Lambert Crystal Perfume Bottle: This pretty and perfect little perfume bottle has a round minimalist shape and a round stopper. It carries an original Val St. Lambert (Belgium) foil label with French text. The bottle is also engraved with a designer's name which appears to be Broffard, and the VSL name. There are matching engraved numerals on the stopper and bottle neck.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_w_o_o_d_/]

So it was "Orrefors" ? Well at least you had a few good letters.

They seem to be quite famous, although I'd never heard about them (but I don't know the first thing about crystals. Seen a lot of them when I visited Prague, but that was it).

[ndgmtlcd.livejournal.com]

They're all over Sweden. It's a huge, old company. I saw Orrefors products in every department store when I was driving around Sweden for a vacation. She's probably in the best city/urban zone in the world for finding a reasonably priced replacement in junk shops, where a flawed botte with an intact stopper would end up. For the last fifty years or so just about every luxury item in the world has been ending up in the NY area, in large quantities.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_w_o_o_d_/]

OF COURSE th thing to do was to google "list of crystal manufacturers" and check the ones who began by an O. Why do I only think of that now ?

[texascarl.livejournal.com]

Fortunately ah keep my feathahs numbahed, for just such an emergency.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm glad you found a replacement and everything went (relatively) well with your mom n.n Now I'm more concerned about the "bathing in a tub full of crystal shards" thing. You OK, or some nasty scratchs appeared out of nowhere?? >__<

Also, please post pics of the bottle and the stopper when you finally get it! I got really curious about them =)

Nemo

No Joy in Herculaneum?

[(Anonymous)]

Boo hoo, no story with pictures in almost a month. What's a poor Roman slave-lad to do? DRW

Re: No Joy in Herculaneum?

[cyanocorax.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm now officially in withdrawal, sliding into depression. Well, maybe there's other stressors involved, but it sure would be a pick-me-up to have some new SPQR Blues. How does the summer look?

Saw your Graphic Myths and Legends books displayed prominently in a Buns & Noodle (er, Barnes & Noble) in Charlotte, NC last weekend. Hope all is well.

[bluerocean.livejournal.com]

That is a pretty bottle! If it makes you feel better, dear, I lost a sapphire of my great-grandmother's that my mother gave me for my birthday under very stupid circumstances. That was nine years ago and the guilt is still quite fresh.

Anyway, I love SPQR Blues and found my way here from there. I see you share a birthday with, as well as E.A. Poe and Janis Joplin, my mother.

[(Anonymous)]

We miss you and your crazy Roman people ;__; Life isn't the same without naked Romans falling off windows and the likes.
But anyway, if it's RL issues, we'll wait patiently *sits and waits* And I hope whatever's keeping you from drawing/posting/etc gets solved quickly n__n

Nemo

[ajodasso.livejournal.com]

Oh, goodness - it sounds like the bottle was beautiful! Here's hoping you solve the problem swiftly *hugs*

[texascarl.livejournal.com]

Be well.

Best Wishes On Behalf.....

[karisu-sama.livejournal.com]

Seriously: I sincerely hope our Illustrious & Quite Appreciated Author/Artist is OK/healthy/just horribly busy with the sometimes necessary and overwhelming demands of life/etc. :/ *sends good thoughts*

you want breakage guilt?

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't hold up my end of a half meter telescope mirror. it bobbled, hit the edge of the mirror cell and took out a chip the size of a quarter and a dime off of the face of the mirror.

fuck.

it was almost 10 years ago, the mirror belonged to a friend of mine and the hurt is starting to fade. to show what kind of friends we are, we still are good friends even though he moved to estonia (for reasons other than the mirror)

[(Anonymous)]

Boom?

Should we send a search party? I know a team four lads who are good at that sort of thing ... though they tentd to cause a bit of disturbance wherever they go. Should I send just the archaeologist?

Hope all is well and you're just having such a wonderful time you forgot to drop us a line.

-LRDC Karen

Re: Klio gone AWOL-ish

[(Anonymous)]

I think she is probably a bit busy now... http://www.popcultureshock.com/scoop-carol-burrell-to-adapt-butlers-kindred/48376/

End

[(Anonymous)]

This isn't an un-announced hiatus, it's a Sopranos-style abrupt conclusion. Good series.

;)

Re: End

[karisu-sama.livejournal.com]

Barring an online obituary, which would surely be forthcoming if it were necessary, I do not believe Klio is the kind of person to come this far with a lovingly-produced story and then never touch it again, leaving all her fans hanging without so much as a cursory explanation or apology. People DO sometimes "disappear from the face of the Earth" for a while. Months at a time is not unheard of, though rather less common in this wired age.

In conclusion: I am not agreeing with you, Anonymous.

[meilin-miranda.livejournal.com]

Love you, Klio, and hope you come back to us soon. I miss my Romans.

[elf-friend2000.livejournal.com]

Seconding all the good thoughts and love, because one can never have too many good thoughts or love coming one's way.

Fish Sauce

[(Anonymous)]

Heads up everybody! Here's an article from BBC news concerning recent Roman ship finds... contents of ships? Among other thing is.... wait for it.... FISH SAUCE! Yes, it's true, the fish sauce business survived Vesuvius' eruption. In case you doubted it. DRW

Re: Fish Sauce

[(Anonymous)]

Woops, forgot to post the url. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8168425.stm
DRW, deliriously happy.

Is it dead Jim?

[(Anonymous)]

So...is this comic officially gone? I mean I'm hoping the author is alright and all (i think thats er on twitter), but I'm guessing whatevver it was that got in this comic's way just killed it?
~Crazy

Re: Is it dead Jim?

[meritahut.livejournal.com]

I'm actually trying to come back from this summer hiatus this week. I even have witnesses. I don't want to make it a promise until something is inked and scanned, but I'll update on Twitter.

Vespasian Birthplace: Roman Emperor's 2000-Year-Old Villa Unearthed Near Cittareale

[(Anonymous)]

Vespasian Birthplace: Roman Emperor's 2000-Year-Old Villa Unearthed Near Cittareale

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/07/vespasian-birthplace-roma_n_254188.html

Hope to see it this year, if the dig is open to the public!

Art