The origin of the glass carafes today known as "demijohns" remains a mystery and although there are attributions to Italian or Arabic etymology (damchán, which means bottle), a curious anecdote prevails as a starting point: It is said that at the end of the Middle Ages Queen Joan I of Naples, Countess of Provence and belonging to the Anjou dynasty, took refuge one afternoon from the rain in the workshop of a master glassmaker and the Boredom made him take an interest in bottle-making.
Apparently he decided to try the glassblowing method and blew air out so hard that he managed to make a 10-liter piece, much larger than usual. In the workshop they appreciated their initiative and seeing that the bottle offered the same rounded shapes of the dresses of the great ladies they decided to nickname it like «lady-jeanne». Beyond this legend, it is necessary to appeal to the functionality of these carafes thanks to their stable base, which allowed them to hold large amounts of liquid in 5, 10 or 20 liter formats; Currently they are valued more as a decorative element recovered with a Mediterranean spirit:
The demijohn has been the essential glass accessory of recent summer seasons, used as an oversized vase for tree branches, spikes and large dried flowers or completely empty as a sculpture itself and even paperweights. It adapts to all possible styles, from rustic and Provencal atmospheres with a romantic and classicist air to its most up-to-date versions that refer to both Scandinavian purism and the more bohemian and relaxed cozy.
They certainly fit perfectly in porches, gardens or terraces, where the sunlight exalts its roundness and creates precious shadows full of life on the walls. Its color range is mainly reduced to earth tones, greenish and bluish, but it is the transparent model that takes the cat to the water on a decorative level, especially mixing different sizes. It is easy to buy demijohns over the internet, but surely in our town or at a relative's house an old bottle of wine wrapped in wicker is kept that we can "strip" to give it a new aesthetic use.
Sometimes it is worth looking for demijohns on the web if we are interested in finding a unique model or making a good gift, and one of the most elegant alternatives is the frosted carafes since they do not modify its character or its format, but they enrich the glass with renewed designs. Those in the image above are from La Mersa, a company based in Argentina that, in addition to offering various advisory services, offers old restored or customized objects for sale, respecting the original material as much as possible. Don't you think they are fantastic?
Regarding DIY or decorative recycling options, demijohns are widely used as candle holder candle type that give an aged and nineteenth-century appearance when the wax melts on the curves of the glass. A simple trick if the diameter of the candle is smaller than that of the bottle funnel is to wind a piece of rope around the cylinder, thus enhancing its "country" origin.
There is also a proliferation of Ceiling Lamps made with the glass of these bottles, eliminating the base to sift their light diffusion, which perfectly fit industrial or eclectic-style premises; or as a support for a luminary table thanks to its stability and weight. The designer Tom Allen has known how to appeal to its sustainability to present his Dama lamp, handcrafted in Barcelona with classic demijohns with a 5-liter handle, and an electrical system hidden in a cork base.
In fact many of the great design companies Specializing in blown glass pieces, they have not been able to avoid drawing inspiration from the pleasant and organic shapes of traditional demijohns to make some of their most recognized products, such as the Elevated vase produced by Muuto or the collection of Pols Potten bottles. It is true that they synthesize the concept and update it with a few touches of pastel, but the influence of our Mediterranean carafes on the glass objects created in northern Europe is more than obvious and we applaud such an enriching dialogue.
Images - Scandinavian style, Decorate your soul, Shine more, The Mersa