Piping Hot

In copper instead of colors, these pipe vases would be a great DIY gift and tabletopper.

via Urban Flea.

Eating on Atoms

It turns out scientific themed housewares is not a new idea. I found these based on X-ray cccrystallography from the 1950s on An Aesthete's Lament. Clockwise from top left they are Peter Wall's Beryl 8.9 plates for Wedgwood, Hazel Thrumpston and Peter Cave's Aluminum Hydroxide plate for E Brain and Co, and Thrumpston's Festival plate for RH and SL Plant.

In 2008 the Wellcome Collection featured an exhibit called From Atoms to Patterns, and included the following history in it's press release:

The 1951 Festival of Britain provided an extraordinary platform for British ingenuity and creativity in science and the arts. One of the boldest initiatives within the Festival was the Festival Pattern Group, which brought together adventurous manufacturers and forward-looking crystallographers (scientists who analyse atomic structures by taking X-ray photographs of crystalline materials) to create a collection of quirky and influential furnishing designs.

Inspired by the intricate patterns of crystal structures, leading Cambridge crystallographer Dr Helen Megaw came up with the novel idea of using them for textiles. As scientific consultant to the Festival Pattern Group, she collated crystal structure diagrams from eminent colleagues and ensured that they were interpreted in an accurate and authentic way. Spearheaded by the Council of Industrial Design, the Festival Pattern Group enlisted the manufacturers, vetted the designs and organised special displays at the Festival of Britain - notably in the Regatta Restaurant on the South Bank, which was decorated with crystal structure-patterned furnishings, and the Exhibition of Science at South Kensington.

The 2008 exhibit of these works included:

- Rayon dress fabrics and nitrocellulose-coated ‘leathercloth’ printed with the molecular structure of haemoglobin

- Tie silks woven with ball-and-spoke atomic structures of chalk and china clay

- Plastic laminates and wallpapers adorned with intricate insulin motifs

- Lace embroidered with the crystal structures of beryl (emerald) and aluminium hydroxide (hydrargillite)

- Carpets emblazoned with patterns derived from the chemical compound resorcinol

- Relief-patterned window glass evoking the atomic structure of the mineral apophyllite

- Fluid abstract-patterned curtains based on diagrams of afwillite, a hydrated calcium silicate formed during the setting of cement

Two good reviews (with more pictures) of the exhibit are at frieze and the Nature Network. The book about the exhibit is out of print, but you may be able to find a copy if you search around: From Atoms to Patterns: Crystal Structure Designs from the 1951 Festival of Britain

Cog Etched Glasses

Craftster recently ran a steampunk swap. Most of the crafts were more costume centric, but I thought these etched glasses might suit your casual dining table.

Created by Craftster user Gnome.

Wine accoutrements for the Steampunk

A collection of objects from all over that would suit your steampunk bar or wine cellar.

Spinning Brass Corkscrews -- such a nice patina!

Wine Settler - impractical yes, but when did that ever stop the desire for a gadget?

Steamship Wine Coaster -- Wine and Rivets!

Beaker Glass Decanter -- every mad scientist needs something to serve his or her potions in

Globe Wine Server -- Wines of the world, for the steampunk with an explorer bent

More things for the tabletop.

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Tell me what you think -- none of this objects would have made the cut for a post on their own, but together I thought they might be interesting enough. If you like it -- or hated it -- let me know in the comment. Thanks!

Chemical Appeal at CB2

One of the few places the pervasive "modern" style intersects with steampunk is in laboratory style (the other one is industrial, as we've recently seen). This means you can occasionally uncover affordable steampunk treasures in mass market home goods retailers.

I've mentioned CB2 before, and I recently perused their newest catalog. In addition to the beaker glass vases I have in my house, they've added some wine decanters in the shape of a volumetric flask. (Want the real thing? Indigo has some, but they're $20 compared to CB2's $15.)


The biggest surprise, however, is the Alchemy side table and stools. The Alchemy is a nice dark wood table top over a matte stainless steel lab stool bottom. The side table seems stuck at 20 1/4 inches high, but the stools are adjustable (I believe by spinning!) from 15 1/4 to 10 1/2 inches high. I just wish they made a small dinner table sized one I could use in my breakfast room.


The Victorian chemistry lab look has a lot of appeal -- the dark woods and clean lines work for a less fussy style than traditional Victorian interiors, or would be a good way to add some steampunk style to a transitional, modern, or eclectic home.

More science style.

Lab Glassware

Aesthetically, lab glassware hasn't changed much in the last 100 years. (Borosilicate has been around since the 1890s.) Why does this matter? Well, that means that lab equipment is the one place where steampunk decor overlaps with the ubiquitous modern decor. We like it because it evokes the scientific romanticism of the Victorian era. Modernists like it for the clean lines and clear glass.

What this odd coincidence means is that there is a lot of innovative chemistry lab equipment based decorative items out there for some very fair prices. I ran across a surprising nice set at CB2, the "little sister" of Crate and Barrel, which features affordable modern furnishings.

"Beaker" glass vases in flask shapes, $3.95 each.

Test tube wall vase, $2.95

Beaker Glass Pitcher, $5.95

Teardrop and Bottle Hanging Vases, $3.95 each

Hour glass and 15 minute glass.

While I've browsed a lot at the large scientific supply houses for chemistry glassware, I've just ordered everything on this page because it *doesn't* have the ugly modern trappings that many (but not all) of the professional gear has -- plastic stoppers, painted on measurements, etc. The prices are also quite fair when compared to the supply houses. If you'd like to do your own comparisons, check out Cynmar, Delta Education, and Indigo.

(disclosure note: I don't make any money off of these particular links, but my Amazon and Ebay links are affliate links.)

Modern Victorian Tea Set

There is a growing trend of what I'd call "modern victorian" home products. One of my favorites are these tea sets by Christine Misiak. She finds old silver tea sets and refurbishes them:

With this black set, when I sourced it at a car boot sale it was in extremely bad condition. The surface finish was rusty, dirty and scratched, also the inside of the tea pot was very unappealing.
Moreover, one of the little legs on the sugar bowl had been snapped off by the prior owner, therefore it had really reached its end life.
So I cleaned the set up and applied black to it, and now the surface finish is glossy and smooth and the set can actually be used again. The imperfection with the broken sugar bowl leg is still there, but it acts as character and the set aims to celebrate the imperfections.

I think the black one is the most steampunk -- for some reason I can see Mrs. Coulter in The Golden Compass using it.

There are pictures of the entire line on Flickr -- in addition to the black one she has an orange set and 2 green sets.

If you were really ambitious, you could try doing this yourself. Old silver plate (maybe start with just a tray?) is cheap and easy to come by at thrift shops. I'm not sure what kind of paint you'd use, but if I was doing it I would start with light coats of spray paint.