From: Gary Tefft / locustent@aol,com
Location: Menomonee Falls, WI
Date: 09 Oct 1998
Time: 23:17:34
The Self Draining Jars had cone-shaped bottoms with a hole in the center, making them into giant funnels. There was a style shaped like a water cooler, but the more common ones have straight sides, like ordinary jars. Your piece was called a Laboratory or Syrup Jar in the old catalogs (see pg. 143, Red Wing Potters & Their Wares). All of these pieces were used to hold and dispense liquids without having to tip the jar or use a ladle. They were often permanently hooked-up to a plumbing system.
The mechanism that looks like a toilet float is essentially, just that. It is a float valve that opens to replentish the liquid level in the jar after it has been drawn down. You might think of it as a Self-Filling Jar.
-Gary-