At 10:28 AM 8/29/97 -0400, Barry Dressel wrote:

>I'm reading Thomas Pynchon's new novel "Mason and Dixon" ; the two
>surveyors are in Capetown, South Africa to observe the transit of Venus,
>and Dixon discovers Malay food (Malays brought to SA by the Dutch)
>including a sauce called jetlap. At one point they are having trouble
>getting it out of the bottle and a character suggests slapping the bottom
>of the bottle....

"Form, Function, Neo-Classicism and Icon: The Evolution and Meaning of the
Heinz Ketchup Bottle."  A synopsis:

The shape of the Ketchup bottle is derived (ultimately) from Attic vase
types of the fifth and sixth centuries B.C.  Both the Alabastron and the
Lekythos, for practical (functional) reasons, may have contributed to the
shape of the long-necked Ketchup bottle.  Both were used to hold precious
liquids like perfume.  Their restricted opening kept the entire contents
from coming out at once.  Unlike the Alabastron, the Lekythos had a long
thin neck, so that, like the Ketchup bottle, the flow of liquid was
modulated by the bubble of air that had to make its way through the fluid
to the bottom end of the neck of the up-turned vessel.

I don't know what consistency was given to the early Ketchup sauce, but it
seems clear to me that the shape of the bottle was chosen only in part
because it functioned to modulate the flow of liquid.  The classical
allusion to container shapes (especially the lekythos, which was seen
abundantly on Greek funerary art) was underscored by the Heinz company
using a shape which also alluded to fluted Doric columns.  At that time
these classical allusions were of particular importance since they tended
to confer the notions of acceptability and quality to the product. The
identifiable vessel shape, combined with the fluting, served to create an
iconic shape for Heinz's Ketchup which has been used subsequently to signal
the connection of other products to the original one, e.g. Heinz Chili
Sauce (which uses a wide necked shape).

Furthermore, as new methods of dispensing Ketchup have been developed
(notably the plastic squeeze bottle), and as new giant-sized bottles have
been introduced, the main characteristics of the original shape (no longer
functional) have remained as reference points: the long neck and the fluted
perimeter profile. These still work to identify these products with high
quality and to promote brand identification and, in a curious way, serve to
migrate several small elements of the Classical Tradition into modern times.

There are some lessons for students of art history here.  In the case of
the Ketchup (or catsup) bottle, the shape is so closely allied to the
product that without labels any American can easily identify the contents
of any traditional catsup bottle.  Shapes not only have functions, they
have associations.  Further, without labels, anyone can identify the Heinz
bottle.  As any student of the art history of Western culture knows,
traditional iconography and traditional forms are closely wedded together,
it is quite possible, in fact, that iconography and form are functions of
each other.

Robert Baron
[log in to unmask]
(Next will be a small article on our proposed reconstruction of the "Statue
of Liberty" out of ash-tray shards.)




>
>----------
>> From: Chuck Watkins <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Ketchup Revision
>> Date: 29 August 1997 10:08
>>
>> Dear Robert,
>> Love the title of the lecture.  If you have not already published it,
>> why not send the manuscript to the Winterthur Portfolio, which is
>> always looking for good material culture articles?
>> Regards,
>> Chuck Watkins
>>
>>
>>
>> Robert A. Baron wrote:
>> >
>> > Some day I should put on paper my lecture entitled
>> > "Form, Function, Neo-Classicism and Icon: The Evolution of the Heinz
>> > Ketchup Bottle,"
>> > but I think the title says it all.
>> >
>> > r.baron
>> > [log in to unmask]
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Charles A. Watkins
>> Appalachian Cultural Museum
>> Appalachian State University
>> Boone, NC
>> 704/262-3117
>> email: [log in to unmask]
>> http://www.museum.appstate.edu
>