There are many, many porcelain kitchen canister sets available, but they fall into two basic types: decorative or functional. Those that actually seal and keep out light, air and bugs, and the rest. Let’s talk about the functional first, and then spend more time on the decorative, which are so much fun.
Functional canisters are usually either plastic, metal or ceramic. A few glass canister sets are dark enough to qualify for the “no light allowed” requirement, but most allow way to much light into the canister to be truly functional if left on the counter top. There are a number of plastic kitchen canisters, the most famous being Tupperware ™. Again, one must consider the canisters that are see through as undesirable counter canisters, although they will work in a cabinet with a solid door. Metal canisters with secure fastening are probably the easiest to make, but somehow the touch is not quite right. (That may be because I did not grown up with such a set.) Ceramic canisters that are fitted with a rubber ring and some kind of snap closure are the best kitchen canisters in the functional category, as they are opaque, sealed and come in any color you can imagine. They are often solid colors, so you can get different colors for different contents or to jazz up your counter, and you can buy the number of canisters you want, not being limited to four. There are also some ceramic kitchen canisters that have ornate metal trays they sit in, either singly or in groups, and have a metal finial on their top. These are quite elegant and seem European, somehow.
The other class of ceramic kitchen canisters is where all the fun is. These are canisters formed in the shape of something else or canisters in fairly ordinary forms with painted decoration. The ones where the shape is relatively unimportant can have anything painted on them, and this is where you get canister sets that form together to form the depiction of a rain forest or beach. Many canister sets repeat the same decoration on all of the canisters, which vary in size to help the cook to identify the contents.
Far more interesting, and proving the imagination of ceramic designers, are the canister sets that do not use a standard shapes to form the canisters. Here there are canisters shaped like animals, including pigs, roosters, dogs, cats, birds, fish, cows, sheep, monkeys, apes, you name it. Another popular subject for these subject-formed canisters is fruit and vegetables, as well as flowers, cactus and other kinds of plants. Man’s inventions have a prominent place in this category as well as the ones provided by nature. Canister sets designed to form the cars in a railroad train has been done at least once, and maybe more than once. Canisters sets shaped like various brands or famous cars or motorcycles can be found. A set with a taxi and buildings represents a big city, farm buildings for the farm folk. Other canister sets include tractors or old houses in a specific style, like Victorian and “Country French.” Cartoon characters and other well-known figures are represented in kitchen canisters. There are also seasonal and holiday themes canister sets for display at the appropriate times of the year.
One can scarcely collect all of these canisters sets, and must select a few to grace the kitchen at times. Canister sets that nest would be helpful in this, but very few kitchen canister sets are designed to nest, and therefore the sets take up quite a bit of storage space when not on the counter. So select with care, because the chances of your having more than two or three is slim.
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