I came across this heavy green Bauer item the other day at the thrift. My first thoughts were that it was some sort of gardenware pot. Apparently, the person before me had thought the same thing, since there were hard water stains on the bottom indicating that it had been used as an outdoor flower pot. However, the fact that it had an inner rim led me to believe that it once had a lid which would rule out it’s original design as a garden pot.

At first, I thought it could be a bean pot - but I’ve seen the Bauer bean pots and they usually have handles. After flipping through Chipman’s Bauer book, I realized that it fit the specs for a Spice Jar. In fact, in the reprinted dealer adverts in the back of the book, I found a listing for Spice Jars with identical dimensions to the one that I had.

That, and the fact that it was marked with a “3″ on the bottom sealed the deal for me. I have to admit, I’m confused as to why this spice jar has no rings like the ones in the book and it is extremely heavy for something like a spice jar. It’s probably the heaviest Bauer item I’ve ever found. In any case, I was really happy to find this Bauer item out “in the wild” for two dollars. The only slight disappointment is that it didn’t come with a lid - I know the new Bauer productions have included spice jars, but I think those are of the ringed variety. I might check them out anyhow, to see if any of them would fit.