IKEA 9" OVANTAD VASE gunmetal black gear teeth ridged planter cog unique RARE

$221.99 Buy It Now or Best Offer, $16.76 Shipping, eBay Money Back Guarantee
Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 195530930756 IKEA 9" OVANTAD VASE gunmetal black gear teeth ridged planter cog unique RARE. Check out my other new & used items>>>>>>HERE! (click me) FOR SALE: A retired and uniquely shaped Swedish vase design from IKEA IKEA OVÄNTAD GUNMETAL BLACK STONEWARE VASE DETAILS: It's sleek, it's unique, it's gear shaped! This fascinating IKEA vase has quite the unconventional shape. The IKEA Oväntad "Gear" vase (701.641.49) features what's best described as a tapered spur gear or cog shape - it's got teeth, or ridges, like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. The cogwheel shape coupled with the bold yet understated color gives this vase a very cool '80s modern design feel. Made of stoneware and covered with a gunmetal like black colored glaze; the color sometimes appears dark gray (grey) or charcoal. No drainage hole but with the correct drill bit and a drill a hole could be made. A quality product thoughtfully designed in Sweden for IKEA. Note: due to camera flash the vase color appears lighter in some photos. Dimensions: Height: approx. 6-1/2" Hole Diameter: approx. 3-3/4" Outer Diameter: approx. 9"

Retired and very rare! To the best of our knowledge the IKEA Oväntad "Gear" vase was manfactured and made available at IKEA stores in 2011 and was retired the following year. An extensive online search will prove this IKEA decorative home/garden product is quite rare - we found no other available for purchase and hardly any real information regarding this uniquely shaped vase.

CONDITION: In very good, pre-owned condition. Some signs of previous use. Original sticker tag is still attached. Light surface scratches. No cracks. Please see photos. To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* "IKEA (Swedish: [ɪˈkêːa]; US: /aɪˈkiːə/) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been the world's largest furniture retailer since 2008.[6][7][8][9][10] The brand used by the group is derived from an acronym that consists of the founder's initials, and those of Elmtaryd, the family farm where he was born, and the nearby village Agunnaryd (his hometown in Småland, southern Sweden).[11][12] The group is primarily known for its modernist designs for various types of appliances and furniture, and its interior design work is often associated with simplicity. In addition, the firm is known for its attention to cost control, operational details, and continuous product development that has allowed IKEA to lower its prices by an average of two to three percent. As of March 2021, there are 422 IKEA stores operating in 50 countries[13] and in fiscal year 2018, €38.8 billion (US$44.6 billion) worth of IKEA goods were sold.[14] For multiple reasons, including tax avoidance[citation needed], IKEA uses a complicated corporate structure. Within this structure, all IKEA stores are operated under franchise from Inter IKEA Systems B.V. which handles branding, design, manufacturing, and supply. Another part of the IKEA group, Ingka Group, operates the majority of IKEA stores as a franchisee and pays royalties to Inter IKEA Systems B.V.[15][16] Some IKEA stores are also operated by independent franchisees.[17] The IKEA website contains about 12,000 products and there were over 2.1 billion visitors to IKEA's websites in the year from September 2015 to August 2016.[18][19] The group is responsible for approximately 1% of world commercial-product wood consumption, making it one of the largest users of wood in the retail sector.[20] IKEA claims to use 99.5% recycled or FSC-certified wood.[21] However, IKEA has been shown to be involved in unsustainable and most likely illegal logging of old-growth and protected forests in multiple Eastern European countries in recent years.... History Ambox current red Asia Australia.svg     Parts of this article (those related to documentation) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2021) See also: § Alternative store designs; and § Ventures beyond furniture, homeware and Swedish food IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad (right) shakes hands with Hans Ax, IKEA's first store manager, in 1965 Map of countries with IKEA stores Legend:   Current market locations   Future market locations   Former market locations   No current or planned market locations In 1943, then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA as a mail-order sales business, and began to sell furniture five years later.[25] The first store was opened in Älmhult, Småland, in 1958, under the name Möbel-IKÉA (Möbel means "furniture" in Swedish). The first stores outside Sweden were opened in Norway (1963) and Denmark (1969).[26] The stores spread to other parts of Europe in the 1970s, with the first store outside Scandinavia opening in Switzerland (1973), followed by West Germany (1974),[26] Japan (1974), Australia, Canada (1975),[27][28] Hong Kong (1975), Singapore and the Netherlands (1978).[29] IKEA further expanded in the 1980s, opening stores in countries such as France and Spain (1981), Belgium (1984),[30] the United States (1985),[31] the United Kingdom (1987),[32] and Italy (1989).[33][29] Germany, with 53 stores, is IKEA's biggest market, followed by the United States, with 51 stores. IKEA entered Latin America in February 2010, opening in the Dominican Republic.[34] As for the region's largest markets, on 8 April 2021, a store was opened in Mexico City. In August 2018, IKEA opened its first store in India, in Hyderabad.[35][36] In November 2021, IKEA opened its largest store in the world, measuring 65,000 square metres (700,000 sq ft),[37] in the Philippines at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.[38][39][40] On 10 August 2022, IKEA opened its first store in Chile. This is its the first store in South America. Another store is expected to open in Colombia by 2023, soon to be followed by a store in Peru. [41][42][43] In March 2022, IKEA announced the closing of all 17 stores in Russia, resulting from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the first market in which they suspended business. However, Ingka also owns 14 shopping centers across Russia operating under its Mega brand. These will remain open.[44] Due to the ongoing war and unimproved situation in Russia, IKEA said on 15 June that it would sell factories, close offices and reduce its work force.[45] Later it became known that IKEA does not plan to sell its business, but expects to return to Russia within two years. About 700 people will continue to work for the company during this period.[46] By October 2022, IKEA laid off about 10,000 Russian employees.[47] IKEA was hit hard by COVID-19 due to lockdown in various countries, like in the UK and Canada.[48][49] Because demand had fallen,[50] its annual catalogue ceased publication after 70 years in print.[51] The prices of their products have risen significantly in 2022 due to rising costs and inflation.[52] In April 2022, IKEA has shut down one of its stores in Guiyang when sales took a significant hit from the pandemic. Due to strict COVID-19 lockdowns in China, IKEA is considering closing another store in Shanghai by July 2022.[53] IKEA is also facing stock shortages and shipping problems that may continue until the end of 2022.[54] First store opening in each location Main article: List of countries with IKEA stores     1958, Sweden     1963, Norway     1969, Denmark     1973, Switzerland     1974, Japan     1974, Germany     1975, Australia     1975, Canada     1975, Hong Kong1     1977, Austria     1978, Singapore     1978, Netherlands     1980, Spain     1981, Iceland     1981, France     1983, Saudi Arabia     1984, Belgium     1984, Kuwait     1985, United States     1987, United Kingdom     1989, Italy     1990, Hungary     1990, Poland     1991, Czech Republic2     1991, Serbia3     1991, United Arab Emirates     1992, Slovakia2     1994, Taiwan     1996, Finland     1996, Malaysia     1998, China     2000, Russia (ceased operations in 2022)     2001, Israel     2001, Greece     2004, Portugal     2005, Turkey     2007, Romania     2007, Cyprus     2008, Ireland     2010, Dominican Republic     2011, Bulgaria     2011, Thailand     2012, Macau     2013, Lithuania     2013, Puerto Rico     2013, Egypt     2013, Qatar     2014, Jordan     2014, Croatia     2014, Indonesia     2014, South Korea     2016, Morocco     2018, India     2018, Latvia     2018, Bahrain     2019, Estonia     2020, Ukraine     2021, Mexico     2021, Slovenia     2021, Philippines     2022, Oman     2022, Chile 1 then British Hong Kong, 2 then part of Czechoslovakia, 3 then part of Yugoslavia Store layout Interior of an IKEA store in Hong Kong The self-service warehouse area Traditional store layout IKEA stores are typically blue buildings with yellow accents[55] (also Sweden's national colours). They are often designed in a one-way layout, leading customers counter-clockwise along what IKEA calls "the long natural way" designed to encourage the customer to see the store in its entirety (as opposed to a traditional retail store, which allows a customer to go directly to the section where the desired goods and services are displayed). There are often shortcuts to other parts of the showroom.[56] The sequence first involves going through the furniture showrooms making note of selected items. The customer collects a shopping cart and proceeds to an open-shelf "Market Hall" warehouse for smaller items, visits the self-service furniture warehouse to collect previously noted showroom products in flat pack form. Sometimes, they are directed to collect products from an external warehouse on the same site or at a site nearby after purchase. Finally, customers pay for their products at a cash register. Not all furniture is stocked at the store level, such as particular sofa colours needing to be shipped from a warehouse to the customer's home or the store. Most stores follow the layout of having the showroom upstairs with the marketplace and self-service warehouse downstairs. Some stores are single level, while others have separate warehouses to allow more stock to be kept on-site. Single-level stores are found predominantly in areas where the cost of land would be less than the cost of building a 2-level store. Some stores have dual-level warehouses with machine-controlled silos to allow large quantities of stock to be accessed throughout the selling day. As-is area at IKEA Damansara, Selangor Most IKEA stores offer an "as-is" area at the end of the warehouse, just before the cash registers. Returned, damaged, and formerly showcased products are displayed here and sold with a significant discount, but also with a no-returns policy. Alternative smaller store formats     This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: no need to report every new store. Please help improve this section if you can. (November 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The vast majority of IKEA stores are located outside of city centers, primarily because of land cost and traffic access. Several smaller store formats have been unsuccessfully tested in the past (the "midi" concept in the early 1990s, which was tested in Ottawa and Heerlen with 9,300 m2 (100,000 sq ft), or a "boutique" shop in Manhattan). New formats for full-size stores A new format for a full-size, city center store was introduced with the opening of the Manchester (United Kingdom) store, situated in Ashton-under-Lyne in 2006. Another store, in Coventry, opened in December 2007. The store had seven floors and a different flow from other IKEA stores; however, it closed down in 2020 due to the site being deemed unsuitable for future business.[57] IKEA's Southampton store that opened in February 2009 is also in the city center and built in an urban style similar to the Coventry store. IKEA built these stores in response to UK government restrictions blocking retail establishment outside city centers.[58] Adaptation to Japanese market Japan was another market where IKEA performed badly initially, exited the market completely and then re-entered the Japanese market with an alternative store design and layout with which it finally found success. The IKEA entered the Japanese market in 1974 through a franchise arrangement with a local partner, only to withdraw in failure in 1986. Japan was one of the first markets outside its original core European market. Despite Japan being the second largest economy in the world at the time, IKEA did not adequately adapt its store layout strategy to the Japanese consumer. Japanese consumers did not have a culture of DIY furniture assembly, and many in the early days had no way to haul the flat-packs home to their small apartments. Nor did the store layouts familiar to European customers initially make much sense to Japanese consumers. So prior to re-entering the Japanese market in 2006, IKEA management did extensive local market research in more effective store layouts. One area of local adaptation was the room displays common to every IKEA store worldwide. Rather than just replicate a typical European room layout, the IKEA Japan management was careful to set up room displays more closely resembling Japanese apartment rooms, such as one for "a typical Japanese teenage boy who likes baseball and computer games".[59] Inner-city stores IKEA also adapted its store location and services to the 'inner-city' format for the expansion in China, unlike other countries where IKEA stores for economic and planning restriction reasons tends to be more commonly just outside city centers due to planning restrictions. In China, planning restrictions are less of an issue than in other country markets due to the lack of cars for much of its customer base. Accordingly, in store design alternatives, IKEA has had to offer store locations and formats closer to public transportation since few customers had access to cars with which to buy and take-home DIY flat pack furniture. The store design alternative thinking and strategy in China has been to locate stores to facilitate access for non-car owning customers.[60] In fact, in some locations in China, IKEA stores can be found not in the usual suburban or near airport locations like in other countries, but rather places such as downtown shopping center with a 'mini-IKEA' store to attract shoppers. For example, one store design alternative trend that IKEA has implemented has been 'pop-up' stores along social media platforms in their advertising strategy for the first-time as a company to reach new customers demographics while still reinforcing its global brand locally in China.[61] Small sized stores In Hong Kong, where shop space is limited and costly, IKEA has opened three outlets in the city, most of which have the one-way layout, part of shopping malls, small for IKEA stores but huge for Hong Kong retail stores. In addition to tailoring store sizes for specific countries, IKEA also alters the sizes of their products in order to accommodate cultural differences.[62] In 2015, IKEA announced that it would be attempting a smaller store design at several locations in Canada. This modified store will feature only a display gallery and a small warehouse. One location planned for Kitchener is in the place formerly occupied by a Sears Home store. The warehouses will not keep furniture stocked, and so customers will not be able to drop in to purchase and leave with furniture the same day. Instead, they will purchase the furniture in advance online or in-store and order the furniture delivered to one of the new stores, for a greatly reduced rate. IKEA claims that this new model will allow them to expand quickly into new markets rather than spending years opening a full-size store.[63] In 2020, IKEA opened at Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi, UAE, which at 2,137 m2 (23,002 sq ft) was one of the smallest IKEA stores in the world.[64][65][66][67] It also opened at 360 Mall in Kuwait and in Harajuku, Tokyo at the same year. The size of 360 Mall store was slightly larger than Al Wahda's despite bringing similar concept, at 3,000 m2 (32,000 sq ft), located at extension of the mall.[68] As for IKEA Harajuku, the 2,500 m2 (26,910 sq ft), 7-storey store houses the chain's first and only konbini concept.[69][70] In 2021, IKEA opened another of its smallest stores at the JEM Mall in Jurong East, Singapore. Replacing liquidated department store Robinsons, IKEA Jurong is only 6,500 m2 (70,000 sq ft) across three levels and the first in Southeast Asia that did not provide the “Market Hall” warehouse in its store.[71][72] Also on the same year, IKEA opened its first small-store format in Bali, Indonesia. Replacing liquidated Giant hypermarket, IKEA Bali is dubbed as Customer Meeting Point, and eventually the smallest store so far, at 1,200 m2 (13,000 sq ft) of space.[73][74][75][76] In 2022, another small-size store was opened inside Kings Mall (now known as Livat Hammersmith), Hammersmith, in February, at 4,600 m2 (50,000 sq ft),[77][78][79] followed by a 9,400 m2 (101,000 sq ft) store inside Mall Taman Anggrek, Jakarta, which was opened on 7 April 2022.[80][81][82][83][84][85][86] Products and services Furniture and homeware A man assembling an IKEA Poäng chair Rather than being sold pre-assembled, much of IKEA's furniture is designed to be assembled by the customer. The company claims that this helps reduce costs and use of packaging by not shipping air; the volume of a bookcase, for example, is considerably less if it is shipped unassembled rather than assembled. This is also more practical for European customers using public transport, because flat packs can be more easily carried. IKEA contends that it has been a pioneering force in sustainable approaches to mass consumer culture.[87] Kamprad calls this "democratic design", meaning that the company applies an integrated approach to manufacturing and design (see also environmental design). In response to the explosion of human population and material expectations in the 20th and 21st centuries, the company implements economies of scale, capturing material streams and creating manufacturing processes that hold costs and resource use down, such as the extensive use of Medium-Density Fiberboard ("MDF"), also called "particle board". Notable items of IKEA furniture include the Poäng armchair, the Billy bookcase and the Klippan sofa, all of which have sold by the tens of millions since the late 1970s.[88][89] The IKEA and LEGO brands teamed up to create a range of simple storage solutions for children and adults.[90] In June 2021, IKEA Canada unveiled a series of 10 "Love Seats" inspired by different Pride flags, created by four LGBTQ designers.[91] Furniture and product naming IKEA products are identified by one-word (rarely two-word) names. Most of the names are Scandinavian in origin. Although there are some exceptions, most product names are based on a special naming system developed by IKEA.[92] Company founder Kamprad was dyslexic and found that naming the furniture with proper names and words, rather than a product code, made the names easier to remember.[93] Some of IKEA's Swedish product names have amusing or unfortunate connotations in other languages, sometimes resulting in the names being withdrawn in certain countries. Notable examples for English include the "Jerker" computer desk (discontinued several years ago as of 2013), "Fukta" plant spray, "Fartfull" workbench,[94] and "Lyckhem" (meaning bliss). Due to several products being named after real locations, this has resulted in some locations sharing names with objects considered generally unpleasant, such as a toilet brush being named after the lake of Bolmen and a trash can named after the village of Toften. In November 2021, Visit Sweden launched a jocular campaign named "Discover the Originals", which invites tourists to visit the locations which have received such unfortunate associations with such items.[95][96] Design services The first US Planning Studio located in Manhattan, United States in 2019, which closed in January 2022[97] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, to facilitate social distancing between customers and accommodate the increased volume of customers who were booking IKEA design consultation services, IKEA stores in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain improved their design consulting process by piloting Ombori's paperless queue management system for the brand.[98] In March 2021, IKEA launched IKEA Studio in partnership with Apple Inc., an app enabling customers to design full-scale rooms with IKEA furniture using augmented reality on an iPhone.[99] Smart home In 2016, IKEA started a move into the smart home business. The IKEA TRÅDFRI smart lighting kit was one of the first ranges signalling this change.[100] IKEA's media team has confirmed that smart home project will be a big move. They have also started a partnership with Philips Hue.[101] The wireless charging furniture, integrating wireless Qi charging into everyday furniture, is another strategy for the smart home business.[102] A collaboration to build Sonos smart speaker technology into furniture sold by IKEA was announced in December 2017.[103] The first products resulting from the collaboration launched in August 2019.[104] Under the product name SYMFONISK, IKEA and Sonos have made two distinct wireless speakers that integrate with existing Sonos households or can be used to start with the Sonos-ecosystem, one that's also a lamp and another that's a more traditional looking bookshelf speaker. Both products as well as accessories for the purpose of mounting the bookshelf speakers have gone on sale worldwide on 1 August.[105] From the start, IKEA SYMFONISK can only be controlled from the Sonos app, but IKEA will add support for the speakers in their own Home Smart app in October [year missing] to be paired with scenes that control both the lights and smart blinds together with the speakers.[citation needed] Houses and flats IKEA has also expanded its product base to include flat-pack houses and apartments, in an effort to cut prices involved in a first-time buyer's home. The IKEA product, named BoKlok was launched in Sweden in 1996 in a joint venture with Skanska. Now working in the Nordic countries and in the UK, sites confirmed in England include London, Ashton-under-Lyne, Leeds, Gateshead, Warrington, Bristol and Liverpool.[106] Solar PV systems At the end of September 2013, the company announced that solar panel packages, so-called "residential kits", for houses will be sold at 17 UK stores by mid-2014. The decision followed a successful pilot project at the Lakeside IKEA store, whereby one photovoltaic system was sold almost every day. The solar CIGS panels are manufactured by Solibro, a German-based subsidiary of the Chinese company Hanergy.[107][108] By the end of 2014, IKEA began to sell Solibro's solar residential kits in the Netherlands and in Switzerland.[109] In November 2015, IKEA ended its contract with Hanergy and in April 2016 started working with Solarcentury to sell solar panels in the United Kingdom.[110] The deal would allow customers to be able to order panels online and at three stores before being expanded to all United Kingdom stores by the end of summer.[111] Furniture rental In April 2019, the company announced that it would begin test marketing a new concept, renting furniture to customers. One of the motivating factors was the fact that inexpensive IKEA products were viewed as "disposable" and often ended up being scrapped after a few years of use. This was at a time when especially younger buyers said they wanted to minimize their impact on the environment. The company understood this view. In an interview, Jesper Brodin, the chief executive of Ingka Group (the largest franchisee of IKEA stores), commented that "climate change and unsustainable consumption are among the biggest challenges we face in society".[112] The other strategic objectives of the plan were to be more affordable and more convenient. The company said it would test the rental concept in all 30 markets by 2020, expecting it to increase the number of times a piece of furniture would be used before recycling.[113] Restaurant and food markets An IKEA Bistro in Beijing Swedish Food Market IKEA restaurant in Coquitlam, B.C., Canada Swedish meatballs The first IKEA store opened in 1958 with a small cafe that transitioned into a full-blown restaurant in 1960 that,[114] until 2011, sold branded Swedish prepared specialist foods, such as meatballs, packages of gravy, lingonberry jam, various biscuits and crackers, and salmon and fish roe spread. The new label has a variety of items including chocolates, meatballs, jams, pancakes, salmon and various drinks.[115][116] Although the cafes primarily serve Swedish food, the menu varies based on the culture, food and location of each store.[117] With restaurants in 38 countries, the menu will incorporate local dishes including shawarma in Saudi Arabia, poutine in Canada, macarons in France, and gelato in Italy.[118] In Indonesia, the Swedish meatballs recipe is changed to accommodate the country's halal requirements.[119] Stores in Israel sell kosher food under rabbinical supervision.[120] The kosher restaurants are separated into dairy and meat areas.[121] In many locations, the IKEA restaurants open daily before the rest of the store and serve breakfast.[citation needed] All food products are based on Swedish recipes and traditions. Food accounts for 5% of IKEA's sales.[122] IKEA sells plant-based meatballs made from potatoes, apples, pea protein, and oats in all of its stores.[123] According to United States journalist Avery Yale Kamila, IKEA began testing its plant-based meatballs in 2014, then launched the plant-based meatballs in 2015 and began testing vegan hot dogs in 2018.[124][125][126] In 2019, journalist James Hansen reported in Eater London that IKEA would only sell vegetarian food at Christmastime.[127] Småland Every store has a kids play area, named Småland (Swedish for small lands; it is also the Swedish province of Småland where founder Kamprad was born). Parents drop off their children at a gate to the playground, and pick them up after they arrive at another entrance. In some stores, parents are given free pagers by the on-site staff, which the staff can use to summon parents whose children need them earlier than expected; in others, staff summon parents through announcements over the in-store public address system or by calling them on their cellphones.[128] The largest Småland play area is located at the IKEA store in Navi Mumbai, India.[129] Some of these were closed down due to pandemic. Other ventures A MEGA Family Shopping Centre in Russia IKEA owns & operates the MEGA Family Shopping Centre chain in Russia.[130] On 8 August 2008, IKEA UK launched a virtual mobile phone network called IKEA Family Mobile, which ran on T-Mobile.[131] At launch it was the cheapest pay-as-you-go network in the UK.[132][133] In June 2015 the network announced that its services would cease to operate from 31 August 2015.[134] As of 2012, IKEA has a joint venture with TCL to provide Uppleva integrated HDTV and entertainment system products.[135][136] In mid-August 2012, the company announced that it would establish a chain of 100 economy hotels in Europe but, unlike its few existing hotels in Scandinavia, they would not carry the IKEA name, nor would they use IKEA furniture and furnishings – they would be operated by an unnamed international group of hoteliers.[137] As of 30 April 2018, however, the company owned only a single hotel, the IKEA Hotell in Älmhult, Sweden. It was previously planning to open another one, in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, after converting the historic Pirelli Building. The company received approval for the concept from the city's planning commission in mid-November 2018; the building was to include 165 rooms and the property would offer 129 dedicated parking spaces. Research in April 2019 provided no indication that the hotel had been completed as of that time.[138][139] The building was then sold to Connecticut architect and developer Becker + Becker for $1,2 million.[140] Opening in 2022 under Hotel Marcel, it will be managed by Chesapeake Hospitality and became part of Hilton's Tapestry Collection.[141][142] From 2016 to 2018, IKEA made the Saladda belt-driven bicycle.[143] In September 2017, IKEA announced they would be acquiring San Francisco-based TaskRabbit. The deal, completed later that year, has TaskRabbit operating as an independent company.[144] In March 2020, IKEA announced that it had partnered with Pizza Hut Hong Kong on a joint venture. IKEA launched a new side table called SÄVA. The table, designed to resemble a pizza saver, would be boxed in packaging resembling a pizza box, and the building instructions included a suggestion to order a Swedish meatball pizza from Pizza Hut, which would contain the same meatballs served in IKEA restaurants.[145][146] In April 2020, IKEA acquired AI imaging startup Geomagical Labs.[147][148] In July 2020, IKEA opened a concept store in the Harajuku district of Tokyo, Japan, where it launched its first ever apparel line.[149] Ingka Centres, IKEA's malls division, announced in December 2021 that it would open two malls, anchored by IKEA stores, in Gurugram and Noida in India at a cost of around ₹9,000 crore (US$1.1 billion). Both malls are expected to open by 2025.[150] Corporate structure Main articles: Stichting INGKA Foundation, Ikano, and Ingvar Kamprad IKEA ownership chart Stichting INGKA Foundation (Netherlands) Stichting IKEA Foundation (Netherlands) INGKA Holding (Netherlands) Other IKEA franchisees Retail locations Intellectual properties IKEA Interogo Foundation (Liechtenstein) Inter IKEA Holding (Netherlands) Interogo Holding (Switzerland) (and substs.) Inter IKEA Systems (Netherlands) IKEA Supply IKEA of Sweden IKEA Industry Holding IKEA Comm- unications IKEA Food Services The image above contains clickable links Flowchart showing the structure and ownership of IKEA companies. Parent companies are at the top of the chart. Provides services to | Is the parent of This box:     viewtalkedit IKEA is owned and operated by a complicated array of not-for-profit and for-profit corporations. The corporate structure is divided into two main parts: operations and franchising. INGKA Holding B.V., based in the Netherlands, owns the Ingka Group, which takes care of the centers, retails, customer fulfillment, and all the other services related to IKEA products. The IKEA brand is owned and managed by Inter IKEA Systems B.V., based in the Netherlands, owned by Inter IKEA Holding B.V. Inter IKEA Holding is also in charge of design, manufacturing and supply of IKEA products. Inter IKEA Systems is owned by Inter IKEA Holding BV, a company registered in the Netherlands, formerly registered in Luxembourg (under the name Inter IKEA Holding SA). Inter IKEA Holding, in turn, is owned by the Interogo Foundation, based in Liechtenstein.[151][152] In 2016, the INGKA Holding sold its design, manufacturing and logistics subsidiaries to Inter IKEA Holding.[153] In June 2013, Ingvar Kamprad resigned from the board of Inter IKEA Holding SA and his youngest son Mathias Kamprad replaced Per Ludvigsson as the chairman of the holding company. Following his decision to step down, the 87-year-old founder explained, "I see this as a good time for me to leave the board of Inter IKEA Group. By that we are also taking another step in the generation shift that has been ongoing for some years."[154] After the 2016 company restructure, Inter IKEA Holding SA no longer exists, having reincorporated in the Netherlands. Mathias Kamprad became a board member of the Inter IKEA Group and the Interogo Foundation.[155] Mathias and his two older brothers, who also have leadership roles at IKEA, work on the corporation's overall vision and long-term strategy.[154] Control by Kamprad The late Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA Along with helping IKEA make a non-taxable profit, IKEA's complicated corporate structure allowed Kamprad to maintain tight control over the operations of INGKA Holding, and thus the operation of most IKEA stores. The INGKA Foundation's five-person executive committee was chaired by Kamprad. It appoints a board of INGKA Holding, approves any changes to INGKA Holding's bylaws, and has the right to preempt new share issues. If a member of the executive committee quits or dies, the other four members appoint their replacement. In Kamprad's absence, the foundation's bylaws include specific provisions requiring it to continue operating the INGKA Holding group and specifying that shares can be sold only to another foundation with the same objectives as the INGKA Foundation.[151] Financial information IKEA Concept Center in Delft – The head office of Inter IKEA Systems B.V. which owns the IKEA trademark and concept The net profit of IKEA Group (which does not include Inter IKEA systems) in fiscal year 2009 (after paying franchise fees to Inter IKEA systems) was €2.538 billion on sales of €21.846 billion. Because INGKA Holding is owned by the non-profit INGKA Foundation, none of this profit is taxed. The foundation's nonprofit status also means that the Kamprad family cannot reap these profits directly, but the Kamprads do collect a portion of IKEA sales profits through the franchising relationship between INGKA Holding and Inter IKEA Systems. As a franchisee, the Ingka Group pays 3% of royalties to Inter IKEA Systems.[16][15] Inter IKEA Systems collected €631 million of franchise fees in 2004 but reported pre-tax profits of only €225 million in 2004. One of the major pre-tax expenses that Inter IKEA systems reported was €590 million of "other operating charges". IKEA has refused to explain these charges, but Inter IKEA Systems appears to make large payments to I.I. Holding, another Luxembourg-registered group that, according to The Economist, "is almost certain to be controlled by the Kamprad family." I.I. Holding made a profit of €328 million in 2004. In 2004, the Inter IKEA group of companies and I.I. Holding reported combined profits of €553m and paid €19m in taxes, or approximately 3.5 percent.[151] Public Eye (formerly known as Erklärung von Bern, literally The Berne Declaration), a non-profit organisation in Switzerland that promotes corporate responsibility, has formally criticised IKEA for its tax avoidance strategies. In 2007, the organisation nominated IKEA for one of its Public Eye "awards", which highlight corporate irresponsibility and are announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.[156] In February 2016, the Greens / EFA group in the European Parliament issued a report entitled IKEA: Flat Pack Tax Avoidance on the tax planning strategies of IKEA and their possible use to avoid tax in several European countries. The report was sent to Pierre Moscovici, the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, and Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, expressing the hope that it would be of use to them in their respective roles "to advance the fight for tax justice in Europe."[16][157] Manufacturing, logistics, and labour Although IKEA household products and furniture are designed in Sweden, they are largely manufactured in developing countries to keep costs down. For most of its products, the final assembly is performed by the end-user (consumer). Swedwood, an IKEA subsidiary, handles production of all of the company's wood-based products, with the largest Swedwood factory located in Southern Poland. According to the subsidiary, over 16,000 employees across 50 sites in 10 countries manufacture the 100 million pieces of furniture that IKEA sells annually. IKEA furniture uses the hardwood alternative particle board. Hultsfred, a factory in southern Sweden, is the company's sole supplier. Distribution center efficiency and flexibility have been one of IKEA's ongoing priorities and thus it has implemented automated, robotic warehouse systems and warehouse management systems (WMS). Such systems facilitate a merger of the traditional retail and mail order sales channels into an omni-channel fulfillment model.[158] In 2020, Ikea was noted by Supply Chain magazine as having one of the most automated warehouse systems in the world.... Marketing Catalogue Main article: IKEA Catalogue IKEA used to publish an annual catalogue, first published in Swedish in 1951.[213] It is considered to be the main marketing tool of the company, consuming 70% of its annual marketing budget.[214] The catalogue is distributed both in stores and by mail,[215] with most of it being produced by IKEA Communications AB in IKEA's hometown of Älmhult, Sweden.[216] At its peak in 2016, 200 million copies of the catalogue were distributed in 32 languages to more than 50 markets.[217] In December 2020, IKEA announced that they would cease publication of both the print and digital versions of the catalogue, with the 2021 edition (released in 2020) being the final edition.[218] IKEA Family The IKEA Family card, issued in Canada, ca. 2012 In common with some other retailers, IKEA launched a loyalty card called "IKEA Family". The card is free of charge and can be used to obtain discounts on certain products found in-store. It is available worldwide. In conjunction with the card, IKEA also publishes and sells a printed quarterly magazine titled IKEA Family Live which supplements the card and catalogue. The magazine is already printed in thirteen languages and an English edition for the United Kingdom was launched in February 2007. It is expected to have a subscription of over 500,000.[219] IKEA Place app On 12 September 2017, IKEA announced the augmented reality app, IKEA Place, following by Apple's release of its ARkit technology and iOS 11.[220] IKEA Place helps consumers to visualize true to scale IKEA products into real environment.[221] Advertising In 1994, IKEA ran a commercial in the United States, titled Dining Room, widely thought to be the first to feature a homosexual couple; it aired for several weeks before being pulled after calls for a boycott and a bomb threat directed at IKEA stores.[222] Other IKEA commercials appeal to the wider LGBTQ community, one featuring a transgender woman.[223] German-Turkish advertisement in Berlin-Neukölln In 2002, the inaugural television component of the "Unböring" campaign, titled Lamp, went on to win several awards, including a Grand Clio,[224] Golds at the London International Awards[225] and the ANDY Awards,[226] and the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival,[227] the most prestigious awards ceremony in the advertising community. A debate ensued between Fraser Patterson, Chief Executive of Onis, and Andrew McGuinness, partner at Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB), the advertising and PR agency that was awarded the £12m IKEA account.[228][229] The essence of the debate was that BMB claimed to be unaware of Onis's campaign as Onis was not an advertising agency. Onis's argument was that its advertising could be seen in prominent landmarks throughout London, having been already accredited, showing concern about the impact IKEA's campaign would have on the originality of its own. BMB and IKEA subsequently agreed to provide Onis with a feature page on the IKEA campaign site linking through to Onis's website for a period of 1 year. In 2008, IKEA paired up with the makers of video game The Sims 2 to make a stuff pack called IKEA Home Stuff, featuring many IKEA products. It was released on 24 June 2008 in North America and 26 June 2008 in Europe. It is the second stuff pack with a major brand, the first being The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Stuff. IKEA took over the title sponsorship of Philadelphia's annual Thanksgiving Day parade in 2008, replacing Boscov's, which filed for bankruptcy in August 2008. In November 2008, a subway train decorated in IKEA style was introduced in Novosibirsk, Russia.[230] Four cars were turned into a mobile showroom of the Swedish design. The redesigned train, which features colourful seats and fancy curtains, carried passengers until 6 June 2009. IKEA marketing campaign in the Paris Métro In March 2010, IKEA developed an event in four important Métro stations in Paris, in which furniture collections are displayed in high-traffic spots, giving potential customers a chance to check out the brand's products. The Métro walls were also filled with prints that showcase IKEA interiors. In September 2017, IKEA launched the "IKEA Human Catalogue" campaign, in which memory champion Yanjaa Wintersoul memorized all 328 pages of the catalogue in minute detail in just a week before its launch. To prove the legitimacy and accuracy of the campaign, live demonstrations were held at press conferences in IKEA stores across Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand as well as a Facebook Live event held at the Facebook Singapore headquarters and talk show demonstrations in the US with Steve Harvey among others.[231] The advertising campaign was hugely successful winning numerous industry awards including the Webby award 2018 for best social media campaign,[232] an Ogilvy award and is currently a contender for the Cannes Lions 2018.[233] In 2020, IKEA conducted a "Buy Back Friday" campaign with a message to present a new life to old furniture instead of offering customers to buy new items for Black Friday.[234] In June 2021, IKEA said it had suspended adverts on GB News because of concerns the channel's content would go against their aim to be inclusive. In a statement IKEA said: “We have safeguards in place to prevent our advertising from appearing on platforms that are not in line with our humanistic values. We are in the process of investigating how this may have occurred to ensure it won’t happen again in future, and have suspended paid display advertising in the meantime.”... In popular culture IKEA stores have been featured in many works of fiction. Some examples include:     The SCP Foundation, an online collaborative writing project documenting fictional anomalous objects, entities and events, features an entry (numbered SCP-3008) based on an IKEA store which is notably bigger on the inside than it would outwardly imply, and from which escaping is far more difficult than expected.[236][237] The interior of this store is populated by entities dressed in IKEA staff attire, resembling highly deformed, faceless humanoids, which are normally passive during the "day" (when the lights are switched on) but become aggressive during the "night" (when the lights are switched off).         A number of survival horror video games have been created based on SCP-3008.[238]     The Swedish crime comedy film Jönssonligan dyker upp igen features a failed robbery of the IKEA store at Kungens Kurva by the eponymous gang.[239]     The American film 500 Days of Summer features the main characters flirting around the showroom of an IKEA store. It was filmed on-location at an IKEA store. One of the tracks from the film's score is entitled "Ikea" to reflect the scene.[240]     The novel The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by French author Romain Puertolas features a trip to an IKEA store in Paris, France.[241]     IKEA Heights, a comedic melodrama web series     Children's picture book Bears Out of The Box by Stefan Cabo and illustrated by Lucia Mrvova. The book features IKEA's famed Fabler Bjorn doll, who is trying to venture outside the store. The book was released in 2021 by Europe Books.[242][243][244]     The 2014 horror comedy novel Horrorstör is set in a haunted store called ARSK, modelled on IKEA, and the novel is designed to look like the IKEA catalog.[245]     In 2018, the company's plush toy shark "Blåhaj" was widely used in an internet meme,[246][247][248] with social media users posting humorous photos of it in their homes." (wikipedia.org) "A vase (/veɪsˌ/ or /vɑːz/) is an open container. It can be made from a number of materials, such as ceramics, glass, non-rusting metals, such as aluminium, brass, bronze, or stainless steel. Even wood has been used to make vases, either by using tree species that naturally resist rot, such as teak, or by applying a protective coating to conventional wood or plastic. Vases are often decorated, and they are often used to hold cut flowers. Vases come in different sizes to support whatever flower it is holding or keeping in place. Vases generally share a similar shape. The foot or the base may be bulbous, flat, carinate,[1] or another shape. The body forms the main portion of the piece. Some vases have a shoulder, where the body curves inward, a neck, which gives height, and a lip, where the vase flares back out at the top. Some vases are also given handles. Various styles and types of vases have been developed around the world in different time periods, such as Chinese ceramics and Native American pottery. In the pottery of ancient Greece "vase-painting" is the traditional term covering the famous fine painted pottery, often with many figures in scenes from Greek mythology. Such pieces may be referred to as vases regardless of their shape; most were in fact used for holding or serving liquids, and many would more naturally be called cups, jugs and so on. In 2003, Grayson Perry won the Turner Prize for his ceramics, typically in vase form. ... History There is a long history of the form and function of the vase in nearly all developed cultures, and often ceramic objects are the only artistic evidence left from vanished cultures. In the beginning stages of pottery, the coiling method of building was the most utilized technique to make pottery. The coiling method is the act of working the clay into long cylindrical strips that later become smooth walls. Potter's wheel The potter's wheel was probably invented in Mesopotamia by the 4th millennium BCE, but spread across nearly all Eurasia and much of Africa, though it remained unknown in the New World until the arrival of Europeans.[2] The earliest discovery of the origins of the potter's wheel was in southern Iraq. The discovery of this technique was beneficial to the people of south Iraq because it served as a substitute for their previous inefficient traditions. Upon this new technique, it would then grow gradually and even be adopted for the use of decorating pottery.[3] Garden vase Garden vases are usually V-shaped but they can also be cylindrical or bowl-shaped. They are usually made of ceramic or, today, plastic. Examples are the Torlonia Vase[4] and the Medici Vase in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence." (wikipedia.org) "Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made by a potter is also called a pottery (plural "potteries"). The definition of pottery, used by the ASTM International, is "all fired ceramic wares that contain clay when formed, except technical, structural, and refractory products".[1] In art history and archaeology, especially of ancient and prehistoric periods, "pottery" often means vessels only, and sculpted figurines of the same material are called "terracottas". Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions, originating before the Neolithic period, with ceramic objects like the Gravettian culture Venus of Dolní Věstonice figurine discovered in the Czech Republic dating back to 29,000–25,000 BC,[2] and pottery vessels that were discovered in Jiangxi, China, which date back to 18,000 BC. Early Neolithic and pre-Neolithic pottery artifacts have been found, in Jōmon Japan (10,500 BC),[3] the Russian Far East (14,000 BC),[4] Sub-Saharan Africa (9,400 BC),[5] South America (9,000s–7,000s BC),[6] and the Middle East (7,000s–6,000s BC). Pottery is made by forming a ceramic (often clay) body into objects of a desired shape and heating them to high temperatures (600–1600 °C) in a bonfire, pit or kiln and induces reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing the strength and rigidity of the object. Much pottery is purely utilitarian, but some can also be regarded as ceramic art. A clay body can be decorated before or after firing. Traditional pottery, Bangladesh The pottery market in Boubon, Niger Clay-based pottery can be divided into three main groups: earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. These require increasingly more specific clay material, and increasingly higher firing temperatures. All three are made in glazed and unglazed varieties, for different purposes. All may also be decorated by various techniques. In many examples the group a piece belongs to is immediately visually apparent, but this is not always the case. The fritware of the Islamic world does not use clay, so technically falls outside these groups. Historic pottery of all these types is often grouped as either "fine" wares, relatively expensive and well-made, and following the aesthetic taste of the culture concerned, or alternatively "coarse", "popular", "folk" or "village" wares, mostly undecorated, or simply so, and often less well-made. Cooking in clay pots became less popular once metal pots became available,[7] but is still used for dishes that depend on the qualities of pottery cooking, such as biryani, cassoulet, daube, tagine, jollof rice, kedjenou, cazuela, and baked beans.... Main types Earthenware Main article: Earthenware The earliest forms of pottery were made from clays that were fired at low temperatures, initially in pit-fires or in open bonfires. They were hand formed and undecorated. Earthenware can be fired as low as 600 °C, and is normally fired below 1200 °C.[8] Because unglazed biscuit earthenware is porous, it has limited utility for the storage of liquids or as tableware. However, earthenware has had a continuous history from the Neolithic period to today. It can be made from a wide variety of clays, some of which fire to a buff, brown or black colour, with iron in the constituent minerals resulting in a reddish-brown. Reddish coloured varieties are called terracotta, especially when unglazed or used for sculpture. The development of ceramic glaze made impermeable pottery possible, improving the popularity and practicality of pottery vessels. The addition of decoration has evolved throughout its history. Stoneware Main article: Stoneware Stoneware is pottery that has been fired in a kiln at a relatively high temperature, from about 1,100 °C to 1,200 °C, and is stronger and non-porous to liquids.[9] The Chinese, who developed stoneware very early on, classify this together with porcelain as high-fired wares. In contrast, stoneware could only be produced in Europe from the late Middle Ages, as European kilns were less efficient, and the right type of clay less common. It remained a speciality of Germany until the Renaissance.[10] Stoneware is very tough and practical, and much of it has always been utilitarian, for the kitchen or storage rather than the table. But "fine" stoneware has been important in China, Japan and the West, and continues to be made. Many utilitarian types have also come to be appreciated as art. Porcelain Main article: Porcelain Porcelain is made by heating materials, generally including kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F). This is higher than used for the other types, and achieving these temperatures was a long struggle, as well as realizing what materials were needed. The toughness, strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainly from vitrification and the formation of the mineral mullite within the body at these high temperatures. Although porcelain was first made in China, the Chinese traditionally do not recognise it as a distinct category, grouping it with stoneware as "high-fired" ware, opposed to "low-fired" earthenware. This confuses the issue of when it was first made. A degree of translucency and whiteness was achieved by the Tang dynasty (AD 618–906), and considerable quantities were being exported. The modern level of whiteness was not reached until much later, in the 14th century. Porcelain was also made in Korea and in Japan from the end of the 16th century, after suitable kaolin was located in those countries. It was not made effectively outside East Asia until the 18th century.... Clay bodies and mineral contents Preparation of clay for pottery in India Body (or clay body) is a term for the main pottery form of a piece, underneath any glaze or decoration. The main ingredient of the body is clay. There are several materials that are referred to as clay. The properties which make them different include: Plasticity, the malleability of the body; the extent to which they will absorb water after firing; and shrinkage, the extent of reduction in size of a body as water is removed. Different clay bodies also differ in the way in which they respond when fired in the kiln. A clay body can be decorated before or after firing. Prior to some shaping processes, clay must be prepared. Each of these different clays is composed of different types and amounts of minerals that determine the characteristics of resulting pottery. There can be regional variations in the properties of raw materials used for the production of pottery, and these can lead to wares that are unique in character to a locality. It is common for clays and other materials to be mixed to produce clay bodies suited to specific purposes. A common component of clay bodies is the mineral kaolinite. Other minerals in the clay, such as feldspar, act as fluxes which lower the vitrification temperature of bodies. Following is a list of different types of clay used for pottery.[13]     Kaolin, is sometimes referred to as china clay because it was first used in China. Used for porcelain.     Ball clay: An extremely plastic, fine grained sedimentary clay, which may contain some organic matter. Small amounts can be added to porcelain bodies to increase plasticity.     Fire clay: A clay having a slightly lower percentage of fluxes than kaolin, but usually quite plastic. It is highly heat resistant form of clay which can be combined with other clays to increase the firing temperature and may be used as an ingredient to make stoneware type bodies.     Stoneware clay: Suitable for creating stoneware. Has many of the characteristics between fire clay and ball clay, having finer grain, like ball clay but is more heat resistant like fire clays.     Common red clay and shale clay have vegetable and ferric oxide impurities which make them useful for bricks, but are generally unsatisfactory for pottery except under special conditions of a particular deposit.[14]     Bentonite: An extremely plastic clay which can be added in small quantities to short clay to increase the plasticity. Production of pottery Production of pottery includes the following three stages:     making clay body, i.e. paste or putty.     shaping and moulding     firing or baking     decorating, such as glazing (slipping), painting, etc. Shaping methods 1:55 A potter shapes a piece of pottery on an electric-powered potter's wheel. Pottery can be shaped by a range of methods that include:     Hand-building: This is the earliest forming method. Wares can be constructed by hand from coils of clay, combining flat slabs of clay, or pinching solid balls of clay or some combination of these. Parts of hand-built vessels are often joined together with the aid of slip, an aqueous suspension of clay body and water. A clay body can be decorated before or after firing. Prior to some shaping processes, clay must be prepared, such as tablewares, although some studio potters find hand-building more conducive to create one-of-a-kind works of art. Classic potter's kick wheel in Erfurt, Germany An electric potter's wheel, with bat (green disk) and throwing bucket. Not shown is a foot pedal used to control the speed of the wheel, similar to a sewing machine     The potter's wheel: In a process called "throwing" (coming from the Old English word thrownاا which means to twist or turn,[15]) a ball of clay is placed in the center of a turntable, called the wheel-head, which the potter rotates with a stick, with foot power or with a variable-speed electric motor.         During the process of throwing, the wheel rotates while the solid ball of soft clay is pressed, squeezed and pulled gently upwards and outwards into a hollow shape. The first step of pressing the rough ball of clay downward and inward into perfect rotational symmetry is called centring the clay—a most important skill to master before the next steps: opening (making a centred hollow into the solid ball of clay), flooring (making the flat or rounded bottom inside the pot), throwing or pulling (drawing up and shaping the walls to an even thickness), and trimming or turning (removing excess clay to refine the shape or to create a foot).         Considerable skill and experience are required to throw pots of an acceptable standard and, while the ware may have high artistic merit, the reproducibility of the method is poor.[16] Because of its inherent limitations, throwing can only be used to create wares with radial symmetry on a vertical axis. These can then be altered by impressing, bulging, carving, fluting, and incising. In addition to the potter's hands these techniques can use tools, including paddles, anvils & ribs, and those specifically for cutting or piercing such as knives, fluting tools, needle tools and wire. Thrown pieces can be further modified by the attachment of handles, lids, feet and spouts.     Granulate pressing: As the name suggests, this is the operation of shaping pottery by pressing clay in a semi-dry and granulated condition in a mould. The clay is pressed into the mould by a porous die through which water is pumped at high pressure. The granulated clay is prepared by spray-drying to produce a fine and free-flowing material having a moisture content of between about 5 and 6 per cent. Granulate pressing, also known as dust pressing, is widely used in the manufacture of ceramic tiles and, increasingly, of plates.     Injection moulding: This is a shape-forming process adapted for the tableware industry from the method long established for the forming of thermoplastic and some metal components.[17] It has been called Porcelain Injection Moulding, or PIM.[18] Suited to the mass production of complex-shaped articles, one significant advantage of the technique is that it allows the production of a cup, including the handle, in a single process, and thereby eliminates the handle-fixing operation and produces a stronger bond between cup and handle.[19] The feed to the mould die is a mix of approximately 50 to 60 per cent unfired body in powder form, together with 40 to 50 per cent organic additives composed of binders, lubricants and plasticisers.[18] The technique is not as widely used as other shaping methods.[20]     Jiggering and jolleying: These operations are carried out on the potter's wheel and allow the time taken to bring wares to a standardized form to be reduced. Jiggering is the operation of bringing a shaped tool into contact with the plastic clay of a piece under construction, the piece itself being set on a rotating plaster mould on the wheel. The jigger tool shapes one face while the mould shapes the other. Jiggering is used only in the production of flat wares, such as plates, but a similar operation, jolleying, is used in the production of hollow-wares such as cups. Jiggering and jolleying have been used in the production of pottery since at least the 18th century. In large-scale factory production, jiggering and jolleying are usually automated, which allows the operations to be carried out by semi-skilled labour. Two moulds for terracotta, with modern casts, from ancient Athens, 5–4th centuries BC     Roller-head machine: This machine is for shaping wares on a rotating mould, as in jiggering and jolleying, but with a rotary shaping tool replacing the fixed profile. The rotary shaping tool is a shallow cone having the same diameter as the ware being formed and shaped to the desired form of the back of the article being made. Wares may in this way be shaped, using relatively unskilled labour, in one operation at a rate of about twelve pieces per minute, though this varies with the size of the articles being produced. Developed in the UK just after World War II by the company Service Engineers, roller-heads were quickly adopted by manufacturers around the world; they remain the dominant method for producing flatware.[21]     Pressure casting: Specially developed polymeric materials allow a mould to be subject to application external pressures of up to 4.0 MPa – so much higher than slip casting in plaster moulds where the capillary forces correspond to a pressure of around 0.1–0.2 MPa. The high pressure leads to much faster casting rates and, hence, faster production cycles. Furthermore, the application of high pressure air through the polymeric moulds upon demoulding the cast means a new casting cycle can be started immediately in the same mould, unlike plaster moulds which require lengthy drying times. The polymeric materials have much greater durability than plaster and, therefore, it is possible to achieve shaped products with better dimensional tolerances and much longer mould life. Pressure casting was developed in the 1970s for the production of sanitaryware although, more recently, it has been applied to tableware.[22][23][24][25]     RAM pressing: This is used to shape ware by pressing a bat of prepared clay body into a required shape between two porous moulding plates. After pressing, compressed air is blown through the porous mould plates to release the shaped wares.     Slip casting: This is suited to the making of shapes that cannot be formed by other methods. A liquid slip, made by mixing clay body with water, is poured into a highly absorbent plaster mould. Water from the slip is absorbed into the mould leaving a layer of clay body covering its internal surfaces and taking its internal shape. Excess slip is poured out of the mould, which is then split open and the moulded object removed. Slip casting is widely used in the production of sanitaryware and is also used for making other complex shaped ware such as teapots and figurines.     3D printing: This is the latest advance in forming ceramic objects. There are two methods. One involves the layered deposition of soft clay similar to fused deposition modeling (FDM) and the other uses powder binding techniques where dry clay powder is fused together layer upon layer with a liquid. Firing Pottery firing mound in Kalabougou, Mali. All the earliest pottery was made in firing pits of this sort A kiln at a pottery in Bardon Mill, UK Firing produces irreversible changes in the body. It is only after firing that the article or material is pottery. In lower-fired pottery, the changes include sintering, the fusing together of coarser particles in the body at their points of contact with each other. In the case of porcelain, where different materials and higher firing-temperatures are used, the physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of the constituents in the body are greatly altered. In all cases, the reason for firing is to permanently harden the wares and the firing regime must be appropriate to the materials used to make them. As a rough guide, modern earthenwares are normally fired at temperatures in the range of about 1,000°C (1,830 °F) to 1,200 °C (2,190 °F); stonewares at between about 1,100 °C (2,010 °F) to 1,300 °C (2,370 °F); and porcelains at between about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F) to 1,400 °C (2,550 °F). Historically, reaching high temperatures was a long-lasting challenge, and earthenware can be fired effectively as low as 600°C, achievable in primitive pit firing. ... Glazing Main article: Ceramic glaze Two panels of earthenware tiles painted with polychrome glazes over a white glaze, Iran, first half of the 19th century. Glaze is a glassy coating on pottery, the primary purposes of which are decoration and protection. One important use of glaze is to render porous pottery vessels impermeable to water and other liquids. Glaze may be applied by dusting the unfired composition over the ware or by spraying, dipping, trailing or brushing on a thin slurry composed of the unfired glaze and water. The colour of a glaze after it has been fired may be significantly different from before firing. To prevent glazed wares sticking to kiln furniture during firing, either a small part of the object being fired (for example, the foot) is left unglazed or, alternatively, special refractory "spurs" are used as supports. These are removed and discarded after the firing. Some specialised glazing techniques include:     Salt-glazing, where common salt is introduced to the kiln during the firing process. The high temperatures cause the salt to volatize, depositing it on the surface of the ware to react with the body to form a sodium aluminosilicate glaze. In the 17th and 18th centuries, salt-glazing was used in the manufacture of domestic pottery. Now, except for use by some studio potters, the process is obsolete. The last large-scale application before its demise in the face of environmental clean air restrictions was in the production of salt-glazed sewer-pipes.[31][32]     Ash glazing – ash from the combustion of plant matter has been used as the flux component of glazes. The source of the ash was generally the combustion waste from the fuelling of kilns although the potential of ash derived from arable crop wastes has been investigated.[33] Ash glazes are of historical interest in the Far East although there are reports of small-scale use in other locations such as the Catawba Valley Pottery in the United States. They are now limited to small numbers of studio potters who value the unpredictability arising from the variable nature of the raw material.[34]     Underglaze decoration (in the manner of many blue and white wares). Underglaze may be applied by brush strokes, air brush, or by pouring the underglaze into the mould, covering the inside, creating a swirling effect, then the mould is filled with slip.     In-glaze decoration     On-glaze decoration     Enamel" (wikipedia.org) "Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature.[2] A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay.[3] Whether vitrified or not, it is nonporous (does not soak up liquids);[4] it may or may not be glazed.[5] Historically, around the world, it has been developed after earthenware and before porcelain, and has often been used for high-quality as well as utilitarian wares. As a rough guide, modern earthenwares are normally fired in a kiln at temperatures in the range of about 1,000 °C (1,830 °F) to 1,200 °C (2,190 °F); stonewares at between about 1,100 °C (2,010 °F) to 1,300 °C (2,370 °F); and porcelains at between about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F) to 1,400 °C (2,550 °F). Historically, reaching high temperatures was a long-lasting challenge, and temperatures somewhat below these were used for a long time. Earthenware can be fired effectively as low as 600 °C, achievable in primitive pit firing, but 800 °C (1,470 °F) to 1,100 °C (2,010 °F) was more typical.[6] Stoneware also needs certain types of clays, more specific than those able to make earthenware, but can be made from a much wider range than porcelain. Stoneware is not recognised as a category in traditional East Asian terminology, and much Asian stoneware, such as Chinese Ding ware for example, is counted as porcelain by local definitions.[7] Terms such as "porcellaneous" or "near-porcelain" may be used in such cases. One definition of stoneware is from the Combined Nomenclature of the European Communities, a European industry standard. It states:     Stoneware, which, though dense, impermeable and hard enough to resist scratching by a steel point, differs from porcelain because it is more opaque, and normally only partially vitrified. It may be vitreous or semi-vitreous. It is usually coloured grey or brownish because of impurities in the clay used for its manufacture, and is normally glazed.... Industrial types In industrial ceramics, five basic categories of stoneware have been suggested:[9]     Traditional stoneware: a dense and inexpensive body. It is opaque, can be of any colour and breaks with a conchoidal or stony fracture. Traditionally made of fine-grained secondary, plastic clays which can be used to shape very large pieces.     Fine stoneware: made from more carefully selected, prepared, and blended raw materials. It is used to produce tableware and art ware.     Chemical stoneware: used in the chemical industry, and when resistance to chemical attack is needed. Purer raw materials are used than for other stoneware bodies.[10]     Thermal shock resistant stoneware: has additions of certain materials to enhance the thermal shock resistance of the fired body.     Electrical stoneware: historically used for electrical insulators, although it has been replaced by electrical porcelain. Materials and firing The key raw material in stoneware is either naturally occurring stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. The mineral kaolinite is present but disordered, and although mica and quartz are present their particle size is very small. Stoneware clay is often accompanied by impurities such as iron or carbon, giving it a "dirty" look, and its plasticity can vary widely.[12] Non-refractory fire clay may be another key raw material. Fire clays are generally considered refractory, because they withstand very high temperatures before melting or crumbling. Refractory fire clays have a high concentration of kaolinite, with lesser amounts of mica and quartz. Non-refractory fire clays, however, have larger amounts of mica and feldspar.[13] Formulations for stoneware vary considerably, although the vast majority will conform to: plastic fire clays, 0 to 100 percent; ball clays, 0 to 15 percent; quartz, 0 to 30 percent; feldspar and chamotte, 0 to 15 percent.[14] Stoneware can be once-fired or twice-fired. Maximum firing temperatures can vary significantly, from 1100 °C to 1300 °C depending on the flux content.[15] Typically, temperatures will be between 1180 °C and 1280 °C, the higher end of which equate to Bullers Rings 38 to 40 or Seger cones 4 to 8. To produce a better quality fired glaze finish, twice-firing can be used. This can be especially important for formulations composed of highly carbonaceous clays. For these, biscuit firing is around 900 °C, and glost firing (the firing used to form the glaze over the ware) 1180–1280 °C. Water absorption of stoneware products is less than 1 percent.[16] Another type, Flintless Stoneware, has also been identified. It is defined in the UK Pottery (Health and Welfare) Special Regulations of 1950 as: "Stoneware, the body of which consists of natural clay to which no flint or quartz or other form of free silica has been added."[17] Traditional East Asian thinking classifies pottery only into "low-fired" and "high-fired" wares, equating to earthenware and porcelain, without the intermediate European class of stoneware, and the many local types of stoneware were mostly classed as porcelain, though often not white and translucent.[18] Methods of forming stoneware bodies include moulding, slipcasting and wheel throwing.[19] Underglaze and overglaze decoration of many types can be used. Much tableware in stoneware is white-glazed and decorated, and it is then visually highly similar to porcelain or faience earthenware." (wikipedia.org) "Sweden,[g] formally the Kingdom of Sweden,[19][h] is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge–tunnel across the Öresund. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.5 million,[14] and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi), with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas in the central and southern half of the country. Sweden has a nature dominated by forests and a large amount of lakes, including some of the largest in Europe. Many long rivers run from the Scandes range through the landscape, primarily emptying into the northern tributaries of the Baltic Sea. It has an extensive coastline and most of the population lives near a major body of water. With the country ranging from 55°N to 69°N, the climate of Sweden is diverse due to the length of the country. The usual conditions are mild for the latitudes with a maritime south, continental centre and subarctic north. Snow cover is infrequent in the densely populated south, but reliable on higher latitudes. Furthermore, the rain shadow of the Scandes results in quite dry winters and sunny summers in much of the country. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats (Swedish: Götar) and Swedes (Svear) and constituting the sea peoples known as the Norsemen. An independent Swedish state emerged during the early 12th century. After the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century killed about a third of the Scandinavian population,[20][21] the dominance of the Hanseatic League in Northern Europe threatened Scandinavia economically and politically. This led to the forming of the Scandinavian Kalmar Union in 1397,[22] which Sweden left in 1523. When Sweden became involved in the Thirty Years' War on the Protestant side, an expansion of its territories began and eventually the Swedish Empire was formed, this became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, ending with the annexation of present-day Finland by Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814 when Norway was militarily forced into a personal union, which peacefully dissolved in 1905. In 2014, Sweden celebrated 200 years of peace, breaking even Switzerland's record for peace.[23] Sweden maintained an official policy of neutrality during wartime and non-participation in military alliances during peacetime, although Sweden secretly relied on U.S. nuclear submarines during the Cold War.[24] Sweden has since 2008 joined EU battlegroups, provided intelligence to NATO[25] and since 2009 openly moved towards cooperation with NATO. In 2022, Sweden applied for NATO membership and was formally invited to join the alliance at the NATO Summit in Madrid.[26] Sweden is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with legislative power vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. It is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides universal health care and tertiary education for its citizens. It has the world's 12th highest per capita income and ranks very highly in quality of life, health, education, protection of civil liberties, economic competitiveness, income equality, gender equality, prosperity and human development.[27][28][29] Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 but rejected Eurozone membership following a referendum. It is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)." (wikipedia.org) "A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs. Flowers may facilitate outcrossing (fusion of sperm and eggs from different individuals in a population) resulting from cross-pollination or allow selfing (fusion of sperm and egg from the same flower) when self-pollination occurs. There are two types of pollination: self-pollination and cross-pollination. Self-pollination occurs when the pollen from the anther is deposited on the stigma of the same flower, or another flower on the same plant. Cross-pollination is when pollen is transferred from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on a different individual of the same species. Self-pollination happens in flowers where the stamen and carpel mature at the same time, and are positioned so that the pollen can land on the flower's stigma. This pollination does not require an investment from the plant to provide nectar and pollen as food for pollinators.[1] Some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization (parthenocarpy). Flowers contain sporangia and are the site where gametophytes develop. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to cause them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen. After fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into fruit containing seeds. In addition to facilitating the reproduction of flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans to bring beauty to the environment, and also as objects of romance, ritual, esotericism, witchcraft, religion, holistic medicine, and as a source of food. ... Etymology Flower is from the Middle English flour, which referred to both the ground grain and the reproductive structure in plants, before splitting off in the 17th century. It comes originally from the Latin name of the Italian goddess of flowers, Flora. The early word for flower in English was blossom,[2] though it now refers to flowers only of fruit trees.[3] Morphology Diagram of flower parts. Main article: Floral morphology The morphology of a flower, or its form and structure,[4] can be considered in two parts: the vegetative part, consisting of non-reproductive structures such as petals; and the reproductive or sexual parts. A stereotypical flower is made up of four kinds of structures attached to the tip of a short stalk or axis, called a receptacle. Each of these parts or floral organs is arranged in a spiral called a whorl.[5] The four main whorls (starting from the base of the flower or lowest node and working upwards) are the calyx, corolla, androecium, and gynoecium. Together the calyx and corolla make up the non-reproductive part of the flower called the perianth, and in some cases may not be differentiated. If this is the case, then they are described as tepals.[6] Perianth Main article: Perianth Calyx The sepals, collectively called the calyx, are modified leaves that occur on the outermost whorl of the flower. They are leaf-like, in that they have a broad base, stomata, stipules, and chlorophyll.[7] Sepals are often waxy and tough, and grow quickly to protect the flower as it develops.[7][8] They may be deciduous, but will more commonly grow on to assist in fruit dispersal. If the calyx is fused together it is called gamosepalous.[7] Corolla The petals, together the corolla, are almost or completely fiberless leaf-like structures that form the innermost whorl of the perianth. They are often delicate and thin, and are usually coloured, shaped, or scented to encourage pollination.[9] Although similar to leaves in shape, they are more comparable to stamens in that they form almost simultaneously with one another, but their subsequent growth is delayed. If the corolla is fused together it is called sympetalous.[10] Reproductive Main article: Plant reproductive morphology Reproductive parts of Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum). 1. Stigma, 2. Style, 3. Stamens, 4. Filament, 5. Petal Androecium The androecium, or stamens, is the whorl of pollen producing male parts. Stamens consist typically of an anther, made up of four pollen sacs arranged in two thecae, connected to a filament, or stalk. The anther contains microsporocytes which become pollen, the male gametophyte, after undergoing meiosis. Although they exhibit the widest variation among floral organs, the androecium is usually confined just to one whorl and to two whorls only in rare cases. Stamens range in number, size, shape, orientation, and in their point of connection to the flower.[9][10] Gynoecium The gynoecium, or the carpels, is the female part of the flower found on the innermost whorl. Each carpel consists of a stigma, which receives pollen, a style, which acts as a stalk, and an ovary, which contains the ovules. Carpels may occur in one to several whorls, and when fused together are often described as a pistil. Inside the ovary, the ovules are suspended off of pieces of tissue called placenta.[11][12] Variation Although this arrangement is considered "typical", plant species show a wide variation in floral structure.[13] The four main parts of a flower are generally defined by their positions on the receptacle and not by their function. Many flowers lack some parts or parts may be modified into other functions or look like what is typically another part.[14] In some families, like Ranunculaceae, the petals are greatly reduced and in many species the sepals are colorful and petal-like. Other flowers have modified stamens that are petal-like; the double flowers of Peonies and Roses are mostly petaloid stamens.[15] Many flowers have a symmetry. When the perianth is bisected through the central axis from any point and symmetrical halves are produced, the flower is said to be actinomorphic or regular. This is an example of radial symmetry. When flowers are bisected and produce only one line that produces symmetrical halves, the flower is said to be irregular or zygomorphic. If, in rare cases, they have no symmetry at all they are called asymmetric.[16][17] Flowers may be directly attached to the plant at their base (sessile—the supporting stalk or stem is highly reduced or absent).[18] The stem or stalk subtending a flower, or an inflorescence of flowers, is called a peduncle. If a peduncle supports more than one flower, the stems connecting each flower to the main axis are called pedicels.[19] The apex of a flowering stem forms a terminal swelling which is called the torus or receptacle.[17] In the majority of species individual flowers have both pistils and stamens. These flowers are described by botanists as being perfect, bisexual, or hermaphrodite. However, in some species of plants the flowers are imperfect or unisexual: having only either male (stamens) or female (pistil) parts. In the latter case, if an individual plant is either female or male the species is regarded as dioecious. However, where unisexual male and female flowers appear on the same plant, the species is called monoecious.[20] Many flowers have nectaries, which are glands that produce a sugary fluid used to attract pollinators. They are not considered as an organ on their own.... Symbolism Lilies are often used to denote life or resurrection Main article: Language of flowers Many flowers have important symbolic meanings in Western culture.[118] The practice of assigning meanings to flowers is known as floriography. Some of the more common examples include:     Red roses are given as a symbol of love, beauty, and passion.[119]     Poppies are a symbol of consolation in time of death. In the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, red poppies are worn to commemorate soldiers who have died in times of war.     Irises/Lily are used in burials as a symbol referring to "resurrection/life". It is also associated with stars (sun) and its petals blooming/shining.     Daisies are a symbol of innocence. Flowers are common subjects of still life paintings, such as this one by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder Because of their varied and colorful appearance, flowers have long been a favorite subject of visual artists as well. Some of the most celebrated paintings from well-known painters are of flowers, such as Van Gogh's sunflowers series or Monet's water lilies. Flowers are also dried, freeze dried and pressed in order to create permanent, three-dimensional pieces of floral art. Flowers within art are also representative of the female genitalia,[120] as seen in the works of artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Imogen Cunningham, Veronica Ruiz de Velasco, and Judy Chicago, and in fact in Asian and western classical art. Many cultures around the world have a marked tendency to associate flowers with femininity. The great variety of delicate and beautiful flowers has inspired the works of numerous poets, especially from the 18th–19th century Romantic era. Famous examples include William Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and William Blake's Ah! Sun-Flower. Their symbolism in dreams has also been discussed, with possible interpretations including "blossoming potential".[121] The Roman goddess of flowers, gardens, and the season of Spring is Flora. The Greek goddess of spring, flowers and nature is Chloris. In Hindu mythology, flowers have a significant status. Vishnu, one of the three major gods in the Hindu system, is often depicted standing straight on a lotus flower.[122] Apart from the association with Vishnu, the Hindu tradition also considers the lotus to have spiritual significance.[123] For example, it figures in the Hindu stories of creation.[124] Human use     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Chancel flowers, placed upon the altar of St. Arsatius's Church in Ilmmünster. History shows that flowers have been used by humans for thousands of years, to serve a variety of purposes. An early example of this is from about 4,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt, where flowers would be used to decorate women's hair. Flowers have also inspired art time and time again, such as in Monet's Water Lilies or William Wordsworth's poem about daffodils entitled: "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud".[125] In modern times, people have sought ways to cultivate, buy, wear, or otherwise be around flowers and blooming plants, partly because of their agreeable appearance and smell. Around the world, people use flowers to mark important events in their lives:     For new births or christenings     As a corsage or boutonniere worn at social functions or for holidays     As tokens of love or esteem     For wedding flowers for the bridal party, and for decorations for the hall     As brightening decorations within the home     As a gift of remembrance for bon voyage parties, welcome-home parties, and "thinking of you" gifts     For funeral flowers and expressions of sympathy for the grieving     For worship. In Christianity, chancel flowers often adorn churches.[126] In Hindu culture, adherents commonly bring flowers as a gift to temples[127] A woman spreading flowers over a lingam in a temple in Varanasi Flowers collected for worship of Hindu deities in morning, in West Bengal. Flowers like jasmine have been used as a replacement for traditional tea in China for centuries. Most recently many other herbs and flowers used traditionally across the world are gaining importance to preapare a range of floral tea.[citation needed] People therefore grow flowers around their homes, dedicate parts of their living space to flower gardens, pick wildflowers, or buy commercially-grown flowers from florists. View of the Tampere Central Square during the Tampere Floral Festival in July 2007. Flowers provide less food than other major plant parts (seeds, fruits, roots, stems and leaves), but still provide several important vegetables and spices. Flower vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower and artichoke. The most expensive spice, saffron, consists of dried stigmas of a crocus. Other flower spices are cloves and capers. Hops flowers are used to flavor beer. Marigold flowers are fed to chickens to give their egg yolks a golden yellow color, which consumers find more desirable; dried and ground marigold flowers are also used as a spice and colouring agent in Georgian cuisine. Flowers of the dandelion and elder are often made into wine. Bee pollen, pollen collected from bees, is considered a health food by some people. Honey consists of bee-processed flower nectar and is often named for the type of flower, e.g. orange blossom honey, clover honey and tupelo honey. Hundreds of fresh flowers are edible, but only few are widely marketed as food. They are often added to salads as garnishes. Squash blossoms are dipped in breadcrumbs and fried. Some edible flowers include nasturtium, chrysanthemum, carnation, cattail, Japanese honeysuckle, chicory, cornflower, canna, and sunflower.[128] Edible flowers such as daisy, rose, and violet are sometimes candied.[129] Flowers such as chrysanthemum, rose, jasmine, Japanese honeysuckle, and chamomile, chosen for their fragrance and medicinal properties, are used as tisanes, either mixed with tea or on their own.[130] Flowers have been used since prehistoric times in funeral rituals: traces of pollen have been found on a woman's tomb in the El Miron Cave in Spain.[131] Many cultures draw a connection between flowers and life and death, and because of their seasonal return flowers also suggest rebirth, which may explain why many people place flowers upon graves. The ancient Greeks, as recorded in Euripides's play The Phoenician Women, placed a crown of flowers on the head of the deceased;[132] they also covered tombs with wreaths and flower petals. Flowers were widely used in ancient Egyptian burials,[133] and the Mexicans to this day use flowers prominently in their Day of the Dead celebrations[134] in the same way that their Aztec ancestors did. Eight Flowers, a painting by artist Qian Xuan, 13th century, Palace Museum, Beijing. Giving Flower market – Detroit's Eastern Market The flower-giving tradition goes back to prehistoric times when flowers often had a medicinal and herbal attributes. Archaeologists found in several grave sites remnants of flower petals. Flowers were first used as sacrificial and burial objects. Ancient Egyptians and later Greeks and Romans used flowers. In Egypt, burial objects from the time around 1540 BC[citation needed] were found, which depicted red poppy, yellow Araun, cornflower and lilies. Records of flower giving appear in Chinese writings and Egyptian hieroglyphics, as well as in Greek and Roman mythology. The practice of giving a flower flourished in the Middle Ages when couples showed affection through flowers. The tradition of flower-giving exists in many forms. It is an important part of Russian culture and folklore. It is common for students to give flowers to their teachers. To give yellow flowers in a romantic relationship means break-up in Russia. Nowadays, flowers are often given away in the form of a flower bouquet." (wikipedia.org) "A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is control. The garden can incorporate both natural and artificial materials.[1] Gardens often have design features including statuary, follies, pergolas, trellises, stumperies, dry creek beds, and water features such as fountains, ponds (with or without fish), waterfalls or creeks. Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while others also produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas, or sometimes intermixed with the ornamental plants. Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of a hobby or self-sustenance rather than producing for sale, as in a market garden). Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, colors, textures, and fragrances to create interest and delight the senses. The most common form today is a residential or public garden, but the term garden has traditionally been a more general one. Zoos, which display wild animals in simulated natural habitats, were formerly called zoological gardens.[2][3] Western gardens are almost universally based on plants, with garden, which etymologically implies enclosure, often signifying a shortened form of botanical garden. Some traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens, however, use plants sparsely or not at all. Landscape gardens, on the other hand, such as the English landscape gardens first developed in the 18th century, may omit flowers altogether. Landscape architecture is a related professional activity with landscape architects tending to engage in design at many scales and working on both public and private projects.... Etymology The etymology of the word gardening refers to enclosure: it is from Middle English gardin, from Anglo-French gardin, jardin, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German gard, gart, an enclosure or compound, as in Stuttgart. See Grad (Slavic settlement) for more complete etymology.[4] The words yard, court, and Latin hortus (meaning "garden", hence horticulture and orchard), are cognates—all referring to an enclosed space.[5] The term "garden" in British English refers to a small enclosed area of land, usually adjoining a building.[6] This would be referred to as a yard in American English.[7] Uses Partial view from the Botanical Garden of Curitiba (Southern Brazil): parterres, flowers, fountains, sculptures, greenhouses and tracks composes the place used for recreation and to study and protect the flora. A garden can have aesthetic, functional, and recreational uses:     Cooperation with nature         Plant cultivation         Garden-based learning     Observation of nature         Bird- and insect-watching         Reflection on the changing seasons     Relaxation         Family dinners on the terrace         Children playing in the garden         Reading and relaxing in a hammock         Maintaining the flowerbeds         Pottering in the shed         Cottaging in the bushes         Basking in warm sunshine         Escaping oppressive sunlight and heat     Growing useful produce         Flowers to cut and bring inside for indoor beauty         Fresh herbs and vegetables for cooking History Main article: History of gardening Asia China Naturalistic design of a Chinese garden incorporated into the landscape, including a pavilion Main article: Chinese garden The earliest recorded Chinese gardens were created in the valley of the Yellow River, during the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC). These gardens were large enclosed parks where the kings and nobles hunted game, or where fruit and vegetables were grown. Early inscriptions from this period, carved on tortoise shells, have three Chinese characters for garden, you, pu and yuan. You was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu was a garden for plants. During the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), yuan became the character for all gardens.[8] The old character for yuan is a small picture of a garden; it is enclosed in a square which can represent a wall, and has symbols which can represent the plan of a structure, a small square which can represent a pond, and a symbol for a plantation or a pomegranate tree.[9] A famous royal garden of the late Shang dynasty was the Terrace, Pond and Park of the Spirit (Lingtai, Lingzhao Lingyou) built by King Wenwang west of his capital city, Yin. The park was described in the Classic of Poetry this way:     The King makes his promenade in the Park of the Spirit,     The deer are kneeling on the grass, feeding their fawns,     The deer are beautiful and resplendent.     The immaculate cranes have plumes of a brilliant white.     The King makes his promenade to the Pond of the Spirit,     The water is full of fish, who wriggle.[10] Another early royal garden was Shaqui, or the Dunes of Sand, built by the last Shang ruler, King Zhou (1075–1046 BC). It was composed of an earth terrace, or tai, which served as an observation platform in the center of a large square park. It was described in one of the early classics of Chinese literature, the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji).[11] According to the Shiji, one of the most famous features of this garden was the Wine Pool and Meat Forest (酒池肉林). A large pool, big enough for several small boats, was constructed on the palace grounds, with inner linings of polished oval shaped stones from the seashore. The pool was then filled with wine. A small island was constructed in the middle of the pool, where trees were planted, which had skewers of roasted meat hanging from their branches. King Zhou and his friends and concubines drifted in their boats, drinking the wine with their hands and eating the roasted meat from the trees. Later Chinese philosophers and historians cited this garden as an example of decadence and bad taste.[12] During the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC), in 535 BC, the Terrace of Shanghua, with lavishly decorated palaces, was built by King Jing of the Zhou dynasty. In 505 BC, an even more elaborate garden, the Terrace of Gusu, was begun. It was located on the side of a mountain, and included a series of terraces connected by galleries, along with a lake where boats in the form of blue dragons navigated. From the highest terrace, a view extended as far as Lake Tai, the Great Lake.[13] India Manasollasa is a twelfth century Sanskrit text that offers details on garden design and a variety of other subjects.[14] Both public parks and woodland gardens are described, with about 40 types of trees recommended for the park in the Vana-krida chapter.[14][15] Shilparatna, a text from the sixteenth century, states that flower gardens or public parks should be located in the northern portion of a town.[16] Japan A moss garden at the Saihō-ji temple in Kyoto, started in 1339. Main article: Japanese garden The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were the pleasure gardens of the Emperors and nobles. They are mentioned in several brief passages of the Nihon Shoki, the first chronicle of Japanese history, published in 720 CE. In spring 74 CE, the chronicle recorded: "The Emperor Keikō put a few carp into a pond, and rejoiced to see them morning and evening". The following year, "The Emperor launched a double-hulled boat in the pond of Ijishi at Ihare, and went aboard with his imperial concubine, and they feasted sumptuously together". In 486, the chronicle recorded that "The Emperor Kenzō went into the garden and feasted at the edge of a winding stream".[17] Korea Main article: Korean garden Korean gardens are a type of garden described as being natural, informal, simple and unforced, seeking to merge with the natural world.[18] They have a history that goes back more than two thousand years,[19] but are little known in the west. The oldest records date to the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC – 668 AD) when architecture and palace gardens showed a development noted in the Korean History of the Three Kingdoms. Europe Reconstruction of the garden at the House of the Vettii in Pompeii. Gardening was not recognized as an art form in Europe until the mid 16th century when it entered the political discourse, as a symbol of the concept of the "ideal republic". Evoking utopian imagery of the Garden of Eden, a time of abundance and plenty where humans didn't know hunger or the conflicts that arose from property disputes. John Evelyn wrote in the early 17th century, "there is not a more laborious life then is that of a good Gard'ners; but a labour full of tranquility and satisfaction; Natural and Instructive, and such as (if any) contributes to Piety and Contemplation."[20] During the era of Enclosures, the agrarian collectivism of the feudal age was idealized in literary "fantasies of liberating regression to garden and wilderness".[21] France Following his campaign in Italy in 1495, where he saw the gardens and castles of Naples, King Charles VIII brought Italian craftsmen and garden designers, such as Pacello da Mercogliano, from Naples and ordered the construction of Italian-style gardens at his residence at the Château d'Amboise and at Château Gaillard, another private résidence in Amboise. His successor Henry II, who had also travelled to Italy and had met Leonardo da Vinci, created an Italian nearby at the Château de Blois.[22] Beginning in 1528, King Francis I created new gardens at the Château de Fontainebleau, which featured fountains, parterres, a forest of pine trees brought from Provence, and the first artificial grotto in France.[23] The Château de Chenonceau had two gardens in the new style, one created for Diane de Poitiers in 1551, and a second for Catherine de' Medici in 1560.[24] In 1536, the architect Philibert de l'Orme, upon his return from Rome, created the gardens of the Château d'Anet following the Italian rules of proportion. The carefully prepared harmony of Anet, with its parterres and surfaces of water integrated with sections of greenery, became one of the earliest and most influential examples of the classic French garden.[25] The French formal garden (French: jardin à la française) contrasted with the design principles of the English landscape garden (French: jardin à l'anglaise) namely, to "force nature" instead of leaving it undisturbed.[26] Typical French formal gardens had "parterres, geometrical shapes and neatly clipped topiary", in contrast to the English style of garden in which "plants and shrubs seem to grow naturally without artifice."[27] By the mid-17th century axial symmetry had ascended to prominence in the French gardening traditions of Andre Mollet and Jacques Boyceau, the latter who wrote: "All things, however beautiful they may be chosen, will be defective if they are not ordered and placed in proper symmetry."[28] A good example of the French formal style are the Tuileries gardens in Paris. Originally designed during the reign of King Henry II in the mid-sixteenth century, the gardens were redesigned into the formal French style for the Sun King Louis XIV. The gardens were ordered into symmetrical lines: long rows of elm or chestnut trees, clipped hedgerows, along with parterres, "reflect[ing] the orderly triumph of man's will over nature."[29] The French landscape garden was influenced by the English landscape garden and gained prominence in the late eighteenth century.[30][31] United Kingdom Before the Grand Manner era, what few significant gardens could be found in Britain had developed under influence from the continent. Britain's homegrown domestic gardening traditions were mostly practical in purpose, rather than aesthetic, unlike the grand gardens found mostly on castle grounds, and less commonly at universities. Tudor gardens emphasized contrast rather than transitions, distinguished by color and illusion. They were not intended as a complement to home or architecture, but conceived as independent spaces, arranged to grow and display flowers and ornamental plants. Gardeners demonstrated their artistry in knot gardens, with complex arrangements most commonly included interwoven box hedges, and less commonly fragrant herbs like rosemary. Sanded paths run between the hedgings of open knots whereas closed knots were filled with single colored flowers. The knot and parterre gardens were always placed on level ground, and elevated areas reserved for terraces from which the intricacy of the gardens could be viewed.[28] Jacobean gardens were described as "a delightful confusion" by Henry Wotton in 1624. Under the influence of the Italian Renaissance, Caroline gardens began to shed some of the chaos of earlier designs, marking the beginning of a trends towards symmetrical unified designs that took the building architecture into account, and featuring an elevated terrace from which home and garden could be viewed. The only surviving Caroline garden is located at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, but is too simple to attract much interest. During the reign of Charles II, many new Baroque style country houses were built; while in England Thomas Cromwell sought to destroy many Tudor, Jacobean and Caroline style gardens.[28] Design Main article: Garden design Garden design is the process of creating plans for the layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Gardens may be designed by garden owners themselves, or by professionals. Professional garden designers tend to be trained in principles of design and horticulture, and have a knowledge and experience of using plants. Some professional garden designers are also landscape architects, a more formal level of training that usually requires an advanced degree and often an occupational license. Elements of garden design include the layout of hard landscape, such as paths, rockeries, walls, water features, sitting areas and decking, as well as the plants themselves, with consideration for their horticultural requirements, their season-to-season appearance, lifespan, growth habit, size, speed of growth, and combinations with other plants and landscape features. Most gardens consist of a mix of natural and constructed elements, although even very 'natural' gardens are always an inherently artificial creation. Natural elements present in a garden principally comprise flora (such as trees and weeds), fauna (such as arthropods and birds), soil, water, air and light. Constructed elements include paths, patios, decking, sculptures, drainage systems, lights and buildings (such as sheds, gazebos, pergolas and follies), but also living constructions such as flower beds, ponds and lawns. Consideration is also given to the maintenance needs of the garden. Including the time or funds available for regular maintenance, (this can affect the choices of plants regarding speed of growth) spreading or self-seeding of the plants (annual or perennial), bloom-time, and many other characteristics. Garden design can be roughly divided into two groups, formal and naturalistic gardens. The most important consideration in any garden design is how the garden will be used, followed closely by the desired stylistic genres, and the way the garden space will connect to the home or other structures in the surrounding areas. All of these considerations are subject to the limitations of the budget. Budget limitations can be addressed by a simpler garden style with fewer plants and less costly hard landscape materials, seeds rather than sod for lawns, and plants that grow quickly; alternatively, garden owners may choose to create their garden over time, area by area." (wikipedia.org) "Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants") which is sister of the Glaucophyta, and consists of the green algae and Embryophyta (land plants). The latter includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Most plants are multicellular organisms. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and have lost the ability to produce normal amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize, but still have flowers, fruits, and seeds. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although asexual reproduction is also common. There are about 320,000 known species of plants, of which the great majority, some 260,000–290,000, produce seeds.[5] Green plants provide a substantial proportion of the world's molecular oxygen,[6] and are the basis of most of Earth's ecosystems. Plants that produce grain, fruit, and vegetables also form basic human foods and have been domesticated for millennia. Plants have many cultural and other uses, as ornaments, building materials, writing material and, in great variety, they have been the source of medicines and psychoactive drugs. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology. ... Definition All living things were traditionally placed into one of two groups, plants and animals. This classification may date from Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), who made the distinction between plants, which generally do not move, and animals, which often are mobile to catch their food. Much later, when Linnaeus (1707–1778) created the basis of the modern system of scientific classification, these two groups became the kingdoms Vegetabilia (later Metaphyta or Plantae) and Animalia (also called Metazoa). Since then, it has become clear that the plant kingdom as originally defined included several unrelated groups, and the fungi and several groups of algae were removed to new kingdoms. However, these organisms are still sometimes considered plants, particularly in informal contexts.[citation needed] The term "plant" generally implies the possession of the following traits: multicellularity, possession of cell walls containing cellulose, and the ability to carry out photosynthesis with primary chloroplasts.[7][8] Current definitions of Plantae When the name Plantae or plant is applied to a specific group of organisms or taxon, it usually refers to one of four concepts. From least to most inclusive, these four groupings are: Name(s)     Scope     Description Land plants, also known as Embryophyta     Plantae sensu strictissimo     Plants in the strictest sense include the liverworts, hornworts, mosses, and vascular plants, as well as fossil plants similar to these surviving groups (e.g., Metaphyta Whittaker, 1969,[9] Plantae Margulis, 1971[10]). Green plants, also known as Viridiplantae, Viridiphyta, Chlorobionta or Chloroplastida     Plantae sensu stricto     Plants in a strict sense include the green algae, and land plants that emerged within them, including stoneworts. The relationships between plant groups are still being worked out, and the names given to them vary considerably. The clade Viridiplantae encompasses a group of organisms that have cellulose in their cell walls, possess chlorophylls a and b and have plastids bound by only two membranes that are capable of photosynthesis and of storing starch. This clade is the main subject of this article (e.g., Plantae Copeland, 1956[11]). Archaeplastida, also known as Plastida or Primoplantae     Plantae sensu lato     Plants in a broad sense comprise the green plants listed above plus the red algae (Rhodophyta) and the glaucophyte algae (Glaucophyta) that store Floridean starch outside the plastids, in the cytoplasm. This clade includes all of the organisms that eons ago acquired their primary chloroplasts directly by engulfing cyanobacteria (e.g., Plantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981[12]). Old definitions of plant (obsolete)     Plantae sensu amplo     Plants in the widest sense refers to older, obsolete classifications that placed diverse algae, fungi or bacteria in Plantae (e.g., Plantae or Vegetabilia Linnaeus,[13] Plantae Haeckel 1866,[14] Metaphyta Haeckel, 1894,[15] Plantae Whittaker, 1969[9])." (wikipedia.org( "A flowerpot, planter, planterette or plant pot, is a container in which flowers and other plants are cultivated and displayed. Historically, and still to a significant extent today, they are made from plain terracotta with no ceramic glaze, with a round shape, tapering inwards. Flowerpots are now often also made from plastic, metal, wood, stone, or sometimes biodegradable material. An example of biodegradable pots are ones made of heavy brown paper, cardboard, or peat moss in which young plants for transplanting are grown. For seedling starting in commercial greenhouses or polytunnels, pots usually take the form of trays with cells, each cell acting as one small pot. These trays are often called flats. There are usually holes in the bottom of pots, to allow excess water to flow out,[1] sometimes to a saucer that is placed under the flowerpot. The plant can use this water with its roots, as needed. Recently,[when?] some flowerpots have been made with an automatic watering system, using a reservoir.... Purpose Flowerpots have a number of uses such as transporting plants to new locations, starting seeds, patio and indoor cultivation of plants, and the growing of tender plants in colder regions indoors.[2] Through the centuries, the use of flowerpots has influenced the horticultural use of plants, and the Egyptians were among the first to use pots to move plants from one location to another. The Romans brought potted plants inside during cold weather. In the 18th century, pots were used to ship breadfruit seedlings from Tahiti to the West Indies. Also Orchids, African violets and Pelargonium geraniums were shipped in pots from other parts of the world, including Africa, to North America and Europe.[3] In the 18th century, Josiah Wedgwood's flowerpots or cachepots, were very popular; they were often highly decorative and used as table centrepieces.[4] In Athens, earthenware flowerpots were thrown into the sea during the festival of the Gardens of Adonis. Theophrastus, c. 371 – c. 287 BC, mentions that a plant called southern-wood was raised and propagated in pots because it was difficult to grow.[5] The top of the flowerpot underneath the rim is commonly known as the shoulder or collar and can aid handling. ... Size The effect of pot size on the growth of maize. The size of the pot will in part determine the size of the plants. Generally, plants planted in bigger pots will end up being larger; on average plants increase 40–45% in biomass for a doubling in pot volume.[17] This will in part be due to a higher availability of nutrients and water in larger pots, but also because roots will get less pot-bound. This does not mean that all plants will thrive better in bigger pots. Especially for succulents it is important that the soil does not stay wet for a long time, as this may cause their roots to rot. The smaller those plants are relative to the soil volume, the longer they take to use all pot water. Bonsai plants are also purposely planted in small pots, not only for aesthetics but also because the low supply of nutrients keeps the leaves smaller and the growth down. Because they are often not as drought resistant as succulents, this implies they have to be watered often. Shape Water in the soil of high pots is more easily pulled down by gravitational forces than in low pots, and hence the soil does not remain wet for a long time [18] This is relevant as plant roots of most species do not only need water, but also air (oxygen). If the potting soil is too wet plants may suffer from a lack of oxygen around the roots. Material The soil in black pots exposed to sunlight will warm up more quickly than soil in white pots. Clay pots are permeable for water and therefore water from inside the pot soil can evaporate through the walls out of the pot. Pots that are glazed or made from plastic lose less water through evaporation. If they have no holes at the bottom either, plants may suffer from remaining too wet." (wikipedia.org) "Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are an American candy consisting of a chocolate cup filled with peanut butter, marketed by The Hershey Company. They were created on November 15, 1928,[3] by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey. Reese left his job with Hershey to start his own candy business.[4] Reese's generates more than $2 billion in annual sales for The Hershey Company,[5] and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are number one on the list of top-selling candy brands.... History of H.B. Reese Candy Company In 1923, The H.B. Reese Candy Company was established in the basement of Reese's home in Hershey, Pennsylvania.[6] The official product name was "Penny Cups" because they could be purchased for one cent.[7] Reese had originally worked at a Hershey dairy farm, and from the start, he used Hershey chocolate in his confections. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were his most popular candy, and Reese eventually discontinued his other lines.[8] H. B. Reese died on May 16, 1956, in West Palm Beach, Florida, passing the company to his six sons, Robert, John, Ed, Ralph, Harry, and Charles Richard Reese.[9] On July 2, 1963, the Reese brothers merged the H.B. Reese Candy Company with the Hershey Chocolate Corporation in a tax-free stock-for-stock merger. In 2022 after 59 years of stock splits,[10] the Reese brothers' original 666,316 shares of Hershey common stock represented 16 million Hershey shares valued at over $3.6 billion that paid annual cash dividends of $66.3 million.[11][12] In 1969, only six years after the Reese/Hershey merger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups became The Hershey Company's top seller.[13] The H.B. Reese Candy Company is maintained as a subsidiary of Hershey because the Reese plant workforce is not unionized, unlike the main Hershey plant. In 2012, Reese's was the best-selling candy brand in the United States with sales of $2.603 billion, and was the fourth-best-selling candy brand globally with sales of $2.679 billion—only $76 million (2.8%) of its sales were from outside the United States market. Additionally, the H.B. Reese Candy Company manufactures the Kit Kat in the United States, which had 2012 U.S. sales of $948 million.[14] As of October 2017 in the U.S. convenience store channel, Reese's was the largest confection brand by far: It was 62% larger than the next brand, with more households purchasing Reese's products than any other confection brand across the United States. Reese's includes the overall top-selling confection item—the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups King Size—as well as six of the top 20 chocolate/non-chocolate items. Additionally, the Reese's brand accounts for over 47% of all seasonal sales within the U.S. convenience store channel, including the top two items in the largest four commercial seasons: Valentine's, Easter, Halloween, & Christmas. As a comparison, the next largest brand accounts for only 10% of seasonal sales.[15] Variations     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Reese's Peanut Butter Cups" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) A trio of different sized cups. Starting from the left: mini, regular and big cup. Hershey's produces variations and "limited editions" of the candy that have included:[16] Size variations     Big Cup: a thicker version of the traditional Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Introduced in 2003, but was not added to the permanent brand portfolio until 2005.[17]     Big Cup with Reese's Pieces: This version of the Big Cup contains Reese's Pieces, mixed in the peanut butter filling.     Half-Pound Cup: a single cup weighing 227 g; released in Canada in 2011.     King Size: In 1987, the first "King Size" Reese's Peanut Butter Cup package was launched; originally 3.2 oz (90.7 g); since 1991, 2.8 oz (79.4 g).[17]     Miniatures: bite-size versions available year-round in bags. These chocolates come wrapped in black paper and gold foil.     Minis: Unwrapped Mini Cups.     Thins: chocolate and filling are 40% thinner than the original cup. Launched October 2018 in milk chocolate and dark chocolate varieties; now offered in white crème as well.[18]     Sugar Free: same as the original but without sugar. These come wrapped in black paper and orange foil. Launched in March 2003.[17]     World's Largest: each cup weighs 8 oz.[19] Filling variations     Caramel: the traditional cup with an added layer of caramel filling. First available in 2006. Discontinued.     Crunchy: a traditional cup with crunchy peanut butter, as opposed to the smooth peanut butter in the original. Introduced in the 1970s. It has been discontinued and rereleased over the years. Still available in some markets as of 2019.     Crunchy Cookie Cup: a layered cup with crushed chocolate cookies and peanut butter filling. First available in 1997. Discontinued in 1999, but was brought back in 2017.[20] Hershey has since launched a Big Cup version called Reese's Big Cup Crunchy Cookie.[21]     Double Chocolate: chocolate fudge filling instead of peanut butter. Limited edition. First available in 2006. Discontinued.     Double Crunch: a traditional cup with peanut filling similar to a Snickers bar, released in the fourth quarter of 2010.     Hazelnut Cream: hazelnut filling instead of the standard peanut butter filling. Was only available in Canada and now discontinued.     Honey Roasted: a traditional cup substituting honey roasted peanut butter. First available in the early 2000s but was brought back in 2017 as 'Taste of Georgia Honey Roasted Reese's' for a limited time. Discontinued.     Marshmallow: the traditional cup with an added layer of marshmallow filling. First available in 2007. Discontinued.[22]     Peanut Butter & Banana Creme: a layered cup with a top chocolate layer, bottom banana crème layer, and peanut butter filling; released as a tribute to Elvis Presley. It was available in standard, Big Cups and Miniatures sizes. First available in 2007. Discontinued.[23] Coating variations     Chocolate Lovers: a thicker chocolate cup with a thinner layer of peanut butter. Was available in 2003–2005. Brought back for Summer 2019.[24]     Dark Chocolate: peanut butter filling in a dark chocolate cup. First available in early 2000s; introduced on and off as part of limited edition product variations for many years, then made its permanent debut in 2009.[25]     Fudge: a thicker, darker chocolate cup with peanut butter filling. First available in 2004. Discontinued.     White Creme: peanut butter filling in a white chocolate cup. In December 2003, the White Reese's Peanut Butter Cup product variation was permanently added to the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup product line.[17] The product brand variation originally launched as "White Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups" but was changed to White Reese's or White Creme Reese's after scrutiny for its misrepresentation since the product does not actually include any chocolate. Coating and filling variations     Extra Smooth & Creamy: Has a smoother chocolate and peanut butter filling. First available in early 2000s. Discontinued.     Inside Out: chocolate filling in a peanut butter cup (a reversal of the traditional version). First available in 2005. Discontinued.     Peanut Butter Lovers: a layered cup with top peanut butter layer, thin chocolate layer and peanut butter filling. Was available in 2003–2005. Brought back for Summer 2019. The Peanut Butter Lovers cup in 2005 did not have extra peanut butter in the shell coating as it does today.[24][17] Holiday editions During the seasons when retailers offer holiday-themed candies, Reese's Peanut Butter candies are available in various shapes that still offer the standard confection theme of the traditional Reese's cup (peanut butter contained in a chocolate shell). They are sold in a 6-pack packaging configuration but are usually available individually. Although exterior packaging is altered to reflect the theme of the representative holiday, the actual holiday itself is never presented.[26]     Reese's Peanut Butter Hearts: Available mainly during January and February, these are heart-shaped confections representing Valentine's Day. At various retailers, an individually-packaged, larger heart is available as well. These are packaged in all-red exterior packaging. Launched nationally in 1997.[17] A packet of Peanut Butter Cups     Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs: Available mainly during March and April, these are egg-shaped confections representing Easter. Exterior packaging is usually yellow and orange (milk chocolate), white and orange (white chocolate), or dark brown and orange (fudge-flavored chocolate). This is the only holiday-themed item available in three chocolate varieties.[27]     Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins: Available mainly during September and October, these are pumpkin-shaped confections representing Halloween. The packaging is standard Reese's orange with a jack-o-lantern picture and the word "Pumpkins" prominently displayed. Launched nationally in 1993.[17] White Creme pumpkins were added to the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkin line in 2017.[28]     Reese's Peanut Butter Ghosts: Available mainly during September and October, these are ghost-shaped confections representing Halloween. The packaging is Halloween themed with the word scary on it. The ghost replaces the letter "a" in the word scary. First released in 2016.     Reese's Peanut Butter Franken-Cup: Released in 2020, Hershey's first colored Reese's variation. It consists of milk chocolate, white crème that is dyed green, and the traditional peanut butter filling.[29]     Reese's Peanut Butter Bats: Available in September and October, these are bat-shaped chocolate candies.     Reese's Peanut Butter Christmas Trees: Available mainly during November and December, these are evergreen tree-shaped confections representing Christmas. At various retailers these may be available in standard milk chocolate or white. Initially, the packaging was green, white, and orange, but has been changed to a winter scene with a snow-covered ground and a snowman with a central large orange evergreen tree-shape in the center of the package. In November 2015, consumers criticized the product via Twitter for bearing too vague a resemblance to a Christmas tree.[30]     The above are all slightly larger than a single, ordinary Reese's Cup.     Reese's Peanut Butter Bells: These bell shaped candies are smaller than a traditional cup, but are slightly larger than a miniature cup and have a higher ratio of chocolate to peanut butter. They are sold in bulk bags, much like Hershey Kisses.     Reese's Peanut Butter Bunny: A larger, individually-packaged Easter Bunny. Formerly known as a Reester Bunny.     Reese's Snowman: The peanut butter snowman is three times larger than the peanut butter tree, egg or pumpkin.[31]     Reese's Peanut Butter Ugly Sweater: Candy in the shape of an ugly sweater, a common Christmas gift.[32]     Reese's Peanut Butter Footballs: Candy in the shape of a football, available during football season. Marketing and advertising     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) In the United States, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups typically come in packs of 2, 4, 5, 10 or 20 in distinctive orange packaging, set on thin but rigid paperboard trays. The "Classic" two-pack is a 0.75 oz. cup since 2001 (originally a 0.9 oz. size, reduced to 0.8 oz. in 1991), the "King Size" four-pack introduced in the early 1980s is a 0.7 oz. cup (originally a 0.8 oz. cup until 1991) and the "Lunch" eight-pack is a 0.55 oz. cup. "Large Size" packs of three 0.7 oz. cups, as well as bags containing 0.6 oz. cups, are also available. The Reese's Miniatures come in various bag sizes and foil colors for seasonal themes like red, gold and green for the Christmas holiday season. In Canada, they are packaged as Reese Peanut Butter Cups, but still widely referred to by their American name.[33] The possessive name is recognized only in English grammar, so it was removed to make the name bilingual in Canada. Previously packaged in a two pack, they now come in a standard pack of three 0.55 oz. cups or the king-size variation with four cups. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, they were originally available only in two-packs, though are now available in three-packs, five-packs and miniatures. In 2008, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were made available in Europe by Hydro Texaco and 7-Eleven. In Australia, Reese's products can be found in many specialty candy stores, as well as from American stores such as Costco. In the 1970s and 1980s, a series of commercials were run for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups featuring situations in which two people, one eating peanut butter and one eating chocolate, collided. One person would exclaim, "You got your peanut butter on my chocolate!" and the other would exclaim, "You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!" They would then sample the mixture and remark on the great taste, tying in with the slogan "Two great tastes that taste great together."[34] In the 1990s, the product's slogan was: "There's no wrong way to eat a Reese's."[35] Reese's was an associate sponsor of NASCAR Cup Series drivers Mark Martin (1994), and Kevin Harvick (2007–2010)." (wikipedia.org) ""A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called cogs), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic principle behind the operation of gears is analogous to the basic principle of levers.[1] A gear may also be known informally as a cog. Geared devices can change the speed, torque, and direction of a power source. Gears of different sizes produce a change in torque, creating a mechanical advantage, through their gear ratio, and thus may be considered a simple machine. The rotational speeds, and the torques, of two meshing gears differ in proportion to their diameters. The teeth on the two meshing gears all have the same shape.[2] Two or more meshing gears, working in a sequence, are called a gear train or a transmission. The gears in a transmission are analogous to the wheels in a crossed, belt pulley system. An advantage of gears is that the teeth of a gear prevent slippage. In transmissions with multiple gear ratios—such as bicycles, motorcycles, and cars—the term "gear" (e.g., "first gear") refers to a gear ratio rather than an actual physical gear. The term describes similar devices, even when the gear ratio is continuous rather than discrete, or when the device does not actually contain gears, as in a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Sometimes a CVT is referred to as an "infinitely variable transmission".[3] Furthermore, a gear can mesh with a linear toothed part, called a rack, producing movement in a straight line instead of rotation (movement in a circle). See Rack and Pinion for an example. ... History Iron gears, Han dynasty Early examples of gears date from the 4th century BC in China[4] (Zhan Guo times – Late East Zhou dynasty), which have been preserved at the Luoyang Museum of Henan Province, China. The earliest preserved gears in Europe were found in the Antikythera mechanism an example of a very early and intricate geared device, designed to calculate astronomical positions. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100 BC.[5] Gears appear in works connected to Hero of Alexandria, in Roman Egypt circa AD 50,[6] but can be traced back to the mechanics of the Alexandrian school in 3rd-century BC Ptolemaic Egypt, and were greatly developed by the Greek polymath Archimedes (287–212 BC).[7] Single-stage gear reducer A complex geared calendrical device showing the phase of the Moon, the day of the month and the places of the Sun and the Moon in the Zodiac was invented in the Byzantine empire in the early 6th century CE.[8] The worm gear was invented in the Indian subcontinent, for use in roller cotton gins, some time during the 13th–14th centuries.[9] Differential gears may have been used in some of the Chinese south-pointing chariots,[10] but the first verifiable use of differential gears was by the British clock maker Joseph Williamson in 1720. Examples of early gear applications include:     1386 CE: The Salisbury Cathedral clock: it is the world's oldest still working geared mechanical clock.     The Astrarium of Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio was a complex astronomical clock built between 1348 and 1364 by Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio. The Astrarium had seven faces and 107 moving parts; it showed the positions of the sun, the moon and the five planets then known, as well as religious feast days.[11]     c. 13th–14th centuries: The worm gear was invented as part of a roller cotton gin in the Indian subcontinent.[9]     c. 1221 CE The geared astrolabe was built in Isfahan showing the position of the moon in the zodiac and its phase, and the number of days since new moon.[12]     c. 6th century CE: A geared calendrical device showing the phase of the Moon, the day of the month and the Zodiac was invented in the Byzantine empire.[13][14]     725 CE: The first geared mechanical clocks were built in China.     2nd century BC: The Antikythera mechanism, the world's oldest analog computer is built. It could predict the movement and position of the sun, moon and planets decades in advance and could solve different astronomical problems.[15][16]     c. 200–265 CE: Ma Jun used gears as part of a south-pointing chariot.     In nature: in the hind legs of the nymphs of the planthopper insect Issus coleoptratus. Etymology The word gear is probably from Old Norse gørvi (plural gørvar) 'apparel, gear,' related to gøra, gørva 'to make, construct, build; set in order, prepare,' a common verb in Old Norse, "used in a wide range of situations from writing a book to dressing meat". In this context, the meaning of 'toothed wheel in machinery' first attested 1520s; specific mechanical sense of 'parts by which a motor communicates motion' is from 1814; specifically of a vehicle (bicycle, automobile, etc.) by 1888.[17] Wooden cogwheel driving a lantern pinion or cage gear A cast gearwheel (above) meshing with a cogged mortise wheel (below). The wooden cogs are held in place by nails. A cog is a tooth on a wheel. From Middle English cogge, from Old Norse (compare Norwegian kugg ('cog'), Swedish kugg, kugge ('cog, tooth')), from Proto-Germanic *kuggō (compare Dutch kogge ('cogboat'), German Kock), from Proto-Indo-European *gugā ('hump, ball') (compare Lithuanian gugà ('pommel, hump, hill'), from PIE *gēw- ('to bend, arch').[18] First used c. 1300 in the sense of 'a wheel having teeth or cogs; late 14c., 'tooth on a wheel'; cog-wheel, early 15c.[19] Historically, cogs were teeth made of wood rather than metal, and a cogwheel technically consisted of a series of wooden gear teeth located around a mortise wheel, each tooth forming a type of specialised 'through' mortise and tenon joint. The wheel can be made of wood, cast iron, or other material. Wooden cogs were formerly used when large metal gears could not be cut, when the cast tooth was not even approximately of the proper shape, or the size of the wheel made manufacture impractical.[20] The cogs were often made of maple wood. In 1967 the Thompson Manufacturing Company of Lancaster, New Hampshire still had a very active business in supplying tens of thousands of maple gear teeth per year, mostly for use in paper mills and grist mills, some dating back over 100 years.[21] Since a wooden cog performs exactly the same function as a cast or machined metal tooth, the word was applied by extension to both, and the distinction has been generally lost. Comparison with drive mechanisms The definite ratio that teeth give gears provides an advantage over other drives (such as traction drives and V-belts) in precision machines such as watches that depend upon an exact velocity ratio. In cases where driver and follower are proximal, gears also have an advantage over other drives in the reduced number of parts required. The downside is that gears are more expensive to manufacture and their lubrication requirements may impose a higher operating cost per hour. Types External versus internal gears Internal gear An external gear is one with the teeth formed on the outer surface of a cylinder or cone. Conversely, an internal gear is one with the teeth formed on the inner surface of a cylinder or cone. For bevel gears, an internal gear is one with the pitch angle exceeding 90 degrees. Internal gears do not cause output shaft direction reversal.[22] Spur Spur gear Spur gears or straight-cut gears are the simplest type of gear. They consist of a cylinder or disk with teeth projecting radially. Though the teeth are not straight-sided (but usually of special form to achieve a constant drive ratio, mainly involute but less commonly cycloidal), the edge of each tooth is straight and aligned parallel to the axis of rotation. These gears mesh together correctly only if fitted to parallel shafts.[23] No axial thrust is created by the tooth loads. Spur gears are excellent at moderate speeds but tend to be noisy at high speeds.[24] Helical An external contact helical gear in action Helical gears Top: parallel configuration Bottom: crossed configuration Helical or "dry fixed" gears offer a refinement over spur gears. The leading edges of the teeth are not parallel to the axis of rotation, but are set at an angle. Since the gear is curved, this angling makes the tooth shape a segment of a helix. Helical gears can be meshed in parallel or crossed orientations. The former refers to when the shafts are parallel to each other; this is the most common orientation. In the latter, the shafts are non-parallel, and in this configuration the gears are sometimes known as "skew gears". The angled teeth engage more gradually than do spur gear teeth, causing them to run more smoothly and quietly.[25] With parallel helical gears, each pair of teeth first make contact at a single point at one side of the gear wheel; a moving curve of contact then grows gradually across the tooth face to a maximum, then recedes until the teeth break contact at a single point on the opposite side. In spur gears, teeth suddenly meet at a line contact across their entire width, causing stress and noise. Spur gears make a characteristic whine at high speeds. For this reason spur gears are used in low-speed applications and in situations where noise control is not a problem, and helical gears are used in high-speed applications, large power transmission, or where noise abatement is important.[26] The speed is considered high when the pitch line velocity exceeds 25 m/s.[27] A disadvantage of helical gears is a resultant thrust along the axis of the gear, which must be accommodated by appropriate thrust bearings. However, this issue can be turned into an advantage when using a herringbone gear or double helical gear, which has no axial thrust - and also provides self-aligning of the gears. This results in less axial thrust than a comparable spur gear. A second disadvantage of helical gears is also a greater degree of sliding friction between the meshing teeth, often addressed with additives in the lubricant. Skew gears For a "crossed" or "skew" configuration, the gears must have the same pressure angle and normal pitch; however, the helix angle and handedness can be different. The relationship between the two shafts is actually defined by the helix angle(s) of the two shafts and the handedness, as defined:[28]     E = β 1 + β 2 {\displaystyle E=\beta _{1}+\beta _{2}} E=\beta _{1}+\beta _{2} for gears of the same handedness,     E = β 1 − β 2 {\displaystyle E=\beta _{1}-\beta _{2}} E=\beta _{1}-\beta _{2} for gears of opposite handedness, where β {\displaystyle \beta } \beta is the helix angle for the gear. The crossed configuration is less mechanically sound because there is only a point contact between the gears, whereas in the parallel configuration there is a line contact.[28] Quite commonly, helical gears are used with the helix angle of one having the negative of the helix angle of the other; such a pair might also be referred to as having a right-handed helix and a left-handed helix of equal angles. The two equal but opposite angles add to zero: the angle between shafts is zero—that is, the shafts are parallel. Where the sum or the difference (as described in the equations above) is not zero, the shafts are crossed. For shafts crossed at right angles, the helix angles are of the same hand because they must add to 90 degrees. (This is the case with the gears in the illustration above: they mesh correctly in the crossed configuration: for the parallel configuration, one of the helix angles should be reversed. The gears illustrated cannot mesh with the shafts parallel.)     3D animation of helical gears (parallel axis)     3D animation of helical gears (crossed axis) Double helical Herringbone gears Double helical gears overcome the problem of axial thrust presented by single helical gears by using a double set of teeth, slanted in opposite directions. A double helical gear can be thought of as two mirrored helical gears mounted closely together on a common axle. This arrangement cancels out the net axial thrust, since each half of the gear thrusts in the opposite direction, resulting in a net axial force of zero. This arrangement can also remove the need for thrust bearings. However, double helical gears are more difficult to manufacture due to their more complicated shape. Herringbone gears are a special type of helical gears. They do not have a groove in the middle like some other double helical gears do; the two mirrored helical gears are joined so that their teeth form a V shape. This can also be applied to bevel gears, as in the final drive of the Citroën Type A. For both possible rotational directions, there exist two possible arrangements for the oppositely-oriented helical gears or gear faces. One arrangement is called stable, and the other unstable. In a stable arrangement, the helical gear faces are oriented so that each axial force is directed toward the center of the gear. In an unstable arrangement, both axial forces are directed away from the center of the gear. In either arrangement, the total (or net) axial force on each gear is zero when the gears are aligned correctly. If the gears become misaligned in the axial direction, the unstable arrangement generates a net force that may lead to disassembly of the gear train, while the stable arrangement generates a net corrective force. If the direction of rotation is reversed, the direction of the axial thrusts is also reversed, so a stable configuration becomes unstable, and vice versa. Stable double helical gears can be directly interchanged with spur gears without any need for different bearings. ... Bevel Main article: Bevel gear Bevel gear operating a lock gate Wooden cogs set in bevel mortise wheels driving a millstone. Note wooden spur gears in the background. A bevel gear is shaped like a right circular cone with most of its tip cut off. When two bevel gears mesh, their imaginary vertices must occupy the same point. Their shaft axes also intersect at this point, forming an arbitrary non-straight angle between the shafts. The angle between the shafts can be anything except zero or 180 degrees. Bevel gears with equal numbers of teeth and shaft axes at 90 degrees are called miter (US) or mitre (UK) gears. Spiral bevels Spiral bevel gears Main article: Spiral bevel gear Spiral bevel gears can be manufactured as Gleason types (circular arc with non-constant tooth depth), Oerlikon and Curvex types (circular arc with constant tooth depth), Klingelnberg Cyclo-Palloid (Epicycloid with constant tooth depth) or Klingelnberg Palloid. Spiral bevel gears have the same advantages and disadvantages relative to their straight-cut cousins as helical gears do to spur gears. Straight bevel gears are generally used only at speeds below 5 m/s (1000 ft/min), or, for small gears, 1000 r.p.m.[29] The cylindrical gear tooth profile corresponds to an involute, but the bevel gear tooth profile to an octoid. All traditional bevel gear generators (like Gleason, Klingelnberg, Heidenreich & Harbeck, WMW Modul) manufacture bevel gears with an octoidal tooth profile. For 5-axis milled bevel gear sets it is important to choose the same calculation / layout like the conventional manufacturing method. Simplified calculated bevel gears on the basis of an equivalent cylindrical gear in normal section with an involute tooth form show a deviant tooth form with reduced tooth strength by 10-28% without offset and 45% with offset [Diss. Hünecke, TU Dresden]. Furthermore, the "involute bevel gear sets" cause more noise. Hypoid Hypoid gear Hypoid gears resemble spiral bevel gears except the shaft axes do not intersect. The pitch surfaces appear conical but, to compensate for the offset shaft, are in fact hyperboloids of revolution.[30][31] Hypoid gears are almost always designed to operate with shafts at 90 degrees. Depending on which side the shaft is offset to, relative to the angling of the teeth, contact between hypoid gear teeth may be even smoother and more gradual than with spiral bevel gear teeth, but also have a sliding action along the meshing teeth as it rotates and therefore usually require some of the most viscous types of gear oil to avoid it being extruded from the mating tooth faces, the oil is normally designated HP (for hypoid) followed by a number denoting the viscosity. Also, the pinion can be designed with fewer teeth than a spiral bevel pinion, with the result that gear ratios of 60:1 and higher are feasible using a single set of hypoid gears.[32] This style of gear is most common in motor vehicle drive trains, in concert with a differential. Whereas a regular (nonhypoid) ring-and-pinion gear set is suitable for many applications, it is not ideal for vehicle drive trains because it generates more noise and vibration than a hypoid does. Bringing hypoid gears to market for mass-production applications was an engineering improvement of the 1920s. Crown gear Crown gear Main article: Crown gear Crown gears or contrate gears are a particular form of bevel gear whose teeth project at right angles to the plane of the wheel; in their orientation the teeth resemble the points on a crown. A crown gear can only mesh accurately with another bevel gear, although crown gears are sometimes seen meshing with spur gears. A crown gear is also sometimes meshed with an escapement such as found in mechanical clocks. Worm Worm gear 4-start worm and wheel Main articles: Worm drive and Slewing drive Worms resemble screws. A worm is meshed with a worm wheel, which looks similar to a spur gear. Worm-and-gear sets are a simple and compact way to achieve a high torque, low speed gear ratio. For example, helical gears are normally limited to gear ratios of less than 10:1 while worm-and-gear sets vary from 10:1 to 500:1.[33] A disadvantage is the potential for considerable sliding action, leading to low efficiency.[34] A worm gear is a species of helical gear, but its helix angle is usually somewhat large (close to 90 degrees) and its body is usually fairly long in the axial direction. These attributes give it screw like qualities. The distinction between a worm and a helical gear is that at least one tooth persists for a full rotation around the helix. If this occurs, it is a 'worm'; if not, it is a 'helical gear'. A worm may have as few as one tooth. If that tooth persists for several turns around the helix, the worm appears, superficially, to have more than one tooth, but what one in fact sees is the same tooth reappearing at intervals along the length of the worm. The usual screw nomenclature applies: a one-toothed worm is called single thread or single start; a worm with more than one tooth is called multiple thread or multiple start. The helix angle of a worm is not usually specified. Instead, the lead angle, which is equal to 90 degrees minus the helix angle, is given. In a worm-and-gear set, the worm can always drive the gear. However, if the gear attempts to drive the worm, it may or may not succeed. Particularly if the lead angle is small, the gear's teeth may simply lock against the worm's teeth, because the force component circumferential to the worm is not sufficient to overcome friction. In traditional music boxes, however, the gear drives the worm, which has a large helix angle. This mesh drives the speed-limiter vanes which are mounted on the worm shaft. Worm-and-gear sets that do lock are called self locking, which can be used to advantage, as when it is desired to set the position of a mechanism by turning the worm and then have the mechanism hold that position. An example is the machine head found on some types of stringed instruments. If the gear in a worm-and-gear set is an ordinary helical gear only a single point of contact is achieved.[32][35] If medium to high power transmission is desired, the tooth shape of the gear is modified to achieve more intimate contact by making both gears partially envelop each other. This is done by making both concave and joining them at a saddle point; this is called a cone-drive[36] or "Double enveloping". Worm gears can be right or left-handed, following the long-established practice for screw threads.[22] Non-circular Non-circular gears Main article: Non-circular gear Non-circular gears are designed for special purposes. While a regular gear is optimized to transmit torque to another engaged member with minimum noise and wear and maximum efficiency, a non-circular gear's main objective might be ratio variations, axle displacement oscillations and more. Common applications include textile machines, potentiometers and continuously variable transmissions. Rack and pinion Rack and pinion gearing Main article: Rack and pinion A rack is a toothed bar or rod that can be thought of as a sector gear with an infinitely large radius of curvature. Torque can be converted to linear force by meshing a rack with a round gear called a pinion: the pinion turns, while the rack moves in a straight line. Such a mechanism is used in automobiles to convert the rotation of the steering wheel into the left-to-right motion of the tie rod(s). Racks also feature in the theory of gear geometry, where, for instance, the tooth shape of an interchangeable set of gears may be specified for the rack (infinite radius), and the tooth shapes for gears of particular actual radii are then derived from that. The rack and pinion gear type is also used in a rack railway. Epicyclic gear train Epicyclic gearing Main article: Epicyclic gearing In epicyclic gearing, one or more of the gear axes moves. Examples are sun and planet gearing (see below), cycloidal drive, automatic transmissions, and mechanical differentials. Sun and planet Sun (yellow) and planet (red) gearing Main article: Sun and planet gear Sun and planet gearing is a method of converting reciprocating motion into rotary motion that was used in steam engines. James Watt used it on his early steam engines to get around the patent on the crank, but it also provided the advantage of increasing the flywheel speed so Watt could use a lighter flywheel. In the illustration, the sun is yellow, the planet red, the reciprocating arm is blue, the flywheel is green and the driveshaft is gray. Harmonic gear Harmonic gearing Main article: Harmonic Drive A harmonic gear or strain wave gear is a specialized gearing mechanism often used in industrial motion control, robotics and aerospace for its advantages over traditional gearing systems, including lack of backlash, compactness and high gear ratios. Though the diagram does not demonstrate the correct configuration, it is a "timing gear," conventionally with far more teeth than a traditional gear to ensure a higher degree of precision. Cage gear Cage gear in Pantigo Windmill, Long Island (with the driving gearwheel disengaged) A cage gear, also called a lantern gear or lantern pinion, has cylindrical rods for teeth, parallel to the axle and arranged in a circle around it, much as the bars on a round bird cage or lantern. The assembly is held together by disks at each end, into which the tooth rods and axle are set. Cage gears are more efficient than solid pinions,[citation needed] and dirt can fall through the rods rather than becoming trapped and increasing wear. They can be constructed with very simple tools as the teeth are not formed by cutting or milling, but rather by drilling holes and inserting rods. Sometimes used in clocks, the cage gear should always be driven by a gearwheel, not used as the driver. The cage gear was not initially favoured by conservative clock makers. It became popular in turret clocks where dirty working conditions were most commonplace. Domestic American clock movements often used them. Cycloidal gear Main article: Cycloid gear Magnetic gear Main articles: Magnetic coupling and magnetic gear All cogs of each gear component of magnetic gears act as a constant magnet with periodic alternation of opposite magnetic poles on mating surfaces. Gear components are mounted with a backlash capability similar to other mechanical gearings. Although they cannot exert as much force as a traditional gear due to limits on magnetic field strength, such gears work without touching and so are immune to wear, have very low noise, minimal power losses from friction and can slip without damage making them very reliable.[37] They can be used in configurations that are not possible for gears that must be physically touching and can operate with a non-metallic barrier completely separating the driving force from the load. The magnetic coupling can transmit force into a hermetically sealed enclosure without using a radial shaft seal, which may leak. Nomenclature Main article: List of gear nomenclature General Gear words.png Rotational frequency, n     Measured in rotation over time, such as revolutions per minute (RPM or rpm). Angular frequency, ω     Measured in radians/second. 1 RPM = 2π rad/minute = π/30 rad/second. Number of teeth, N     How many teeth a gear has, an integer. In the case of worms, it is the number of thread starts that the worm has. Gear, wheel     The larger of two interacting gears or a gear on its own. Pinion     The smaller of two interacting gears. Path of contact     Path followed by the point of contact between two meshing gear teeth. Line of action, pressure line     Line along which the force between two meshing gear teeth is directed. It has the same direction as the force vector. In general, the line of action changes from moment to moment during the period of engagement of a pair of teeth. For involute gears, however, the tooth-to-tooth force is always directed along the same line—that is, the line of action is constant. This implies that for involute gears the path of contact is also a straight line, coincident with the line of action—as is indeed the case. Axis     Axis of revolution of the gear; center line of the shaft. Pitch point     Point where the line of action crosses a line joining the two gear axes. Pitch circle, pitch line     Circle centered on and perpendicular to the axis, and passing through the pitch point. A predefined diametral position on the gear where the circular tooth thickness, pressure angle and helix angles are defined. Pitch diameter, d     A predefined diametral position on the gear where the circular tooth thickness, pressure angle and helix angles are defined. The standard pitch diameter is a design dimension and cannot be measured, but is a location where other measurements are made. Its value is based on the number of teeth (N), the normal module (mn; or normal diametral pitch, Pd), and the helix angle ( ψ {\displaystyle \psi } \psi ):         d = N m n cos ⁡ ψ {\displaystyle d={\frac {Nm_{n}}{\cos \psi }}} {\displaystyle d={\frac {Nm_{n}}{\cos \psi }}} in metric units or d = N P d cos ⁡ ψ {\displaystyle d={\frac {N}{P_{d}\cos \psi }}} {\displaystyle d={\frac {N}{P_{d}\cos \psi }}} in imperial units.[38] Module or modulus, m     Since it is impractical to calculate circular pitch with irrational numbers, mechanical engineers usually use a scaling factor that replaces it with a regular value instead. This is known as the module or modulus of the wheel and is simply defined as:         m = p π {\displaystyle m={\frac {p}{\pi }}} {\displaystyle m={\frac {p}{\pi }}}     where m is the module and p the circular pitch. The units of module are customarily millimeters; an English Module is sometimes used with the units of inches. When the diametral pitch, DP, is in English units,         m = 25.4 D P {\displaystyle m={\frac {25.4}{DP}}} {\displaystyle m={\frac {25.4}{DP}}} in conventional metric units.     The distance between the two axis becomes:         a = m 2 ( z 1 + z 2 ) {\displaystyle a={\frac {m}{2}}(z_{1}+z_{2})} {\displaystyle a={\frac {m}{2}}(z_{1}+z_{2})}     where a is the axis distance, z1 and z2 are the number of cogs (teeth) for each of the two wheels (gears). These numbers (or at least one of them) is often chosen among primes to create an even contact between every cog of both wheels, and thereby avoid unnecessary wear and damage. An even uniform gear wear is achieved by ensuring the tooth counts of the two gears meshing together are relatively prime to each other; this occurs when the greatest common divisor (GCD) of each gear tooth count equals 1, e.g. GCD(16,25)=1; if a 1:1 gear ratio is desired a relatively prime gear may be inserted in between the two gears; this maintains the 1:1 ratio but reverses the gear direction; a second relatively prime gear could also be inserted to restore the original rotational direction while maintaining uniform wear with all 4 gears in this case. Mechanical engineers, at least in continental Europe, usually use the module instead of circular pitch. The module, just like the circular pitch, can be used for all types of cogs, not just evolvent based straight cogs.[39] Operating pitch diameters     Diameters determined from the number of teeth and the center distance at which gears operate.[22] Example for pinion:         d w = 2 a u + 1 = 2 a z 2 z 1 + 1 . {\displaystyle d_{w}={\frac {2a}{u+1}}={\frac {2a}{{\frac {z_{2}}{z_{1}}}+1}}.} {\displaystyle d_{w}={\frac {2a}{u+1}}={\frac {2a}{{\frac {z_{2}}{z_{1}}}+1}}.} Pitch surface     In cylindrical gears, cylinder formed by projecting a pitch circle in the axial direction. More generally, the surface formed by the sum of all the pitch circles as one moves along the axis. For bevel gears it is a cone. Angle of action     Angle with vertex at the gear center, one leg on the point where mating teeth first make contact, the other leg on the point where they disengage. Arc of action     Segment of a pitch circle subtended by the angle of action. Pressure angle, θ {\displaystyle \theta } \theta     The complement of the angle between the direction that the teeth exert force on each other, and the line joining the centers of the two gears. For involute gears, the teeth always exert force along the line of action, which, for involute gears, is a straight line; and thus, for involute gears, the pressure angle is constant. Outside diameter, D o {\displaystyle D_{o}} D_{o}     Diameter of the gear, measured from the tops of the teeth. Root diameter     Diameter of the gear, measured at the base of the tooth. Addendum, a     Radial distance from the pitch surface to the outermost point of the tooth. a = 1 2 ( D o − D ) {\displaystyle a={\frac {1}{2}}(D_{o}-D)} {\displaystyle a={\frac {1}{2}}(D_{o}-D)} Dedendum, b     Radial distance from the depth of the tooth trough to the pitch surface. b = 1 2 ( D − root diameter ) {\displaystyle b={\frac {1}{2}}(D-{\text{root diameter}})} {\displaystyle b={\frac {1}{2}}(D-{\text{root diameter}})} Whole depth, h t {\displaystyle h_{t}} h_{t}     The distance from the top of the tooth to the root; it is equal to addendum plus dedendum or to working depth plus clearance. Clearance     Distance between the root circle of a gear and the addendum circle of its mate. Working depth     Depth of engagement of two gears, that is, the sum of their operating addendums. Circular pitch, p     Distance from one face of a tooth to the corresponding face of an adjacent tooth on the same gear, measured along the pitch circle. Diametral pitch, DP         D P = N d = π p {\displaystyle DP={\frac {N}{d}}={\frac {\pi }{p}}} {\displaystyle DP={\frac {N}{d}}={\frac {\pi }{p}}}     Ratio of the number of teeth to the pitch diameter. Could be measured in teeth per inch or teeth per centimeter, but conventionally has units of per inch of diameter. Where the module, m, is in metric units         D P = 25.4 m {\displaystyle DP={\frac {25.4}{m}}} {\displaystyle DP={\frac {25.4}{m}}} in English units Base circle     In involute gears, the tooth profile is generated by the involute of the base circle. The radius of the base circle is somewhat smaller than that of the pitch circle Base pitch, normal pitch, p b {\displaystyle p_{b}} p_b     In involute gears, distance from one face of a tooth to the corresponding face of an adjacent tooth on the same gear, measured along the base circle Interference     Contact between teeth other than at the intended parts of their surfaces Interchangeable set     A set of gears, any of which mates properly with any other Helical gear Helix angle, ψ {\displaystyle \psi } \psi     the Angle between a tangent to the helix and the gear axis. It is zero in the limiting case of a spur gear, albeit it can considered as the hypotenuse angle as well. Normal circular pitch, p n {\displaystyle p_{n}} p_{n}     Circular pitch in the plane normal to the teeth. Transverse circular pitch, p     Circular pitch in the plane of rotation of the gear. Sometimes just called "circular pitch". p n = p cos ⁡ ( ψ ) {\displaystyle p_{n}=p\cos(\psi )} {\displaystyle p_{n}=p\cos(\psi )} Several other helix parameters can be viewed either in the normal or transverse planes. The subscript n usually indicates the normal. Worm gear Lead     Distance from any point on a thread to the corresponding point on the next turn of the same thread, measured parallel to the axis. Linear pitch, p     Distance from any point on a thread to the corresponding point on the adjacent thread, measured parallel to the axis. For a single-thread worm, lead and linear pitch are the same. Lead angle, λ {\displaystyle \lambda } \lambda     Angle between a tangent to the helix and a plane perpendicular to the axis. Note that the complement of the helix angle is usually given for helical gears. Pitch diameter, d w {\displaystyle d_{w}} d_{w}     Same as described earlier in this list. Note that for a worm it is still measured in a plane perpendicular to the gear axis, not a tilted plane. Subscript w denotes the worm, subscript g denotes the gear. Tooth contact     Line of contact     Line of contact     Path of action     Path of action     Line of action     Line of action     Plane of action     Plane of action     Lines of contact (helical gear)     Lines of contact (helical gear)     Arc of action     Arc of action     Length of action     Length of action     Limit diameter     Limit diameter     Face advance     Face advance     Zone of action     Zone of action Point of contact     Any point at which two tooth profiles touch each other. Line of contact     A line or curve along which two tooth surfaces are tangent to each other. Path of action     The locus of successive contact points between a pair of gear teeth, during the phase of engagement. For conjugate gear teeth, the path of action passes through the pitch point. It is the trace of the surface of action in the plane of rotation. Line of action     The path of action for involute gears. It is the straight line passing through the pitch point and tangent to both base circles. Surface of action     The imaginary surface in which contact occurs between two engaging tooth surfaces. It is the summation of the paths of action in all sections of the engaging teeth. Plane of action     The surface of action for involute, parallel axis gears with either spur or helical teeth. It is tangent to the base cylinders. Zone of action (contact zone)     For involute, parallel-axis gears with either spur or helical teeth, is the rectangular area in the plane of action bounded by the length of action and the effective face width. Path of contact     The curve on either tooth surface along which theoretical single point contact occurs during the engagement of gears with crowned tooth surfaces or gears that normally engage with only single point contact. Length of action     The distance on the line of action through which the point of contact moves during the action of the tooth profile. Arc of action, Qt     The arc of the pitch circle through which a tooth profile moves from the beginning to the end of contact with a mating profile. Arc of approach, Qa     The arc of the pitch circle through which a tooth profile moves from its beginning of contact until the point of contact arrives at the pitch point. Arc of recess, Qr     The arc of the pitch circle through which a tooth profile moves from contact at the pitch point until contact ends. Contact ratio, mc, ε     The number of angular pitches through which a tooth surface rotates from the beginning to the end of contact. In a simple way, it can be defined as a measure of the average number of teeth in contact during the period during which a tooth comes and goes out of contact with the mating gear. Transverse contact ratio, mp, εα     The contact ratio in a transverse plane. It is the ratio of the angle of action to the angular pitch. For involute gears it is most directly obtained as the ratio of the length of action to the base pitch. Face contact ratio, mF, εβ     The contact ratio in an axial plane, or the ratio of the face width to the axial pitch. For bevel and hypoid gears it is the ratio of face advance to circular pitch. Total contact ratio, mt, εγ     The sum of the transverse contact ratio and the face contact ratio.         ϵ γ = ϵ α + ϵ β {\displaystyle \epsilon _{\gamma }=\epsilon _{\alpha }+\epsilon _{\beta }} \epsilon_\gamma = \epsilon_\alpha + \epsilon_\beta         m t = m p + m F {\displaystyle m_{\rm {t}}=m_{\rm {p}}+m_{\rm {F}}} m_{\rm t} = m_{\rm p} + m_{\rm F} Modified contact ratio, mo     For bevel gears, the square root of the sum of the squares of the transverse and face contact ratios.         m o = m p 2 + m F 2 {\displaystyle m_{\rm {o}}={\sqrt {m_{\rm {p}}^{2}+m_{\rm {F}}^{2}}}} m_{\rm o} = \sqrt{m_{\rm p}^2 + m_{\rm F}^2} Limit diameter     Diameter on a gear at which the line of action intersects the maximum (or minimum for internal pinion) addendum circle of the mating gear. This is also referred to as the start of active profile, the start of contact, the end of contact, or the end of active profile. Start of active profile (SAP)     Intersection of the limit diameter and the involute profile. Face advance     Distance on a pitch circle through which a helical or spiral tooth moves from the position at which contact begins at one end of the tooth trace on the pitch surface to the position where contact ceases at the other end. Tooth thickness     Tooth thickness     Tooth thickness     Thickness relationships     Thickness relationships     Chordal thickness     Chordal thickness     Tooth thickness measurement over pins     Tooth thickness measurement over pins     Span measurement     Span measurement     Long and short addendum teeth     Long and short addendum teeth Circular thickness     Length of arc between the two sides of a gear tooth, on the specified datum circle. Transverse circular thickness     Circular thickness in the transverse plane. Normal circular thickness     Circular thickness in the normal plane. In a helical gear it may be considered as the length of arc along a normal helix. Axial thickness     In helical gears and worms, tooth thickness in an axial cross section at the standard pitch diameter. Base circular thickness     In involute teeth, length of arc on the base circle between the two involute curves forming the profile of a tooth. Normal chordal thickness     Length of the chord that subtends a circular thickness arc in the plane normal to the pitch helix. Any convenient measuring diameter may be selected, not necessarily the standard pitch diameter. Chordal addendum (chordal height)     Height from the top of the tooth to the chord subtending the circular thickness arc. Any convenient measuring diameter may be selected, not necessarily the standard pitch diameter. Profile shift     Displacement of the basic rack datum line from the reference cylinder, made non-dimensional by dividing by the normal module. It is used to specify the tooth thickness, often for zero backlash. Rack shift     Displacement of the tool datum line from the reference cylinder, made non-dimensional by dividing by the normal module. It is used to specify the tooth thickness. Measurement over pins     Measurement of the distance taken over a pin positioned in a tooth space and a reference surface. The reference surface may be the reference axis of the gear, a datum surface or either one or two pins positioned in the tooth space or spaces opposite the first. This measurement is used to determine tooth thickness. Span measurement     Measurement of the distance across several teeth in a normal plane. As long as the measuring device has parallel measuring surfaces that contact on an unmodified portion of the involute, the measurement wis along a line tangent to the base cylinder. It is used to determine tooth thickness. Modified addendum teeth     Teeth of engaging gears, one or both of which have non-standard addendum. Full-depth teeth     Teeth in which the working depth equals 2.000 divided by the normal diametral pitch. Stub teeth     Teeth in which the working depth is less than 2.000 divided by the normal diametral pitch. Equal addendum teeth     Teeth in which two engaging gears have equal addendums. Long and short-addendum teeth     Teeth in which the addendums of two engaging gears are unequal. Pitch Pitch is the distance between a point on one tooth and the corresponding point on an adjacent tooth.[22] It is a dimension measured along a line or curve in the transverse, normal, or axial directions. The use of the single word pitch without qualification may be ambiguous, and for this reason it is preferable to use specific designations such as transverse circular pitch, normal base pitch, axial pitch.     Pitch     Pitch     Tooth pitch     Tooth pitch     Base pitch relationships     Base pitch relationships     Principal pitches     Principal pitches Circular pitch, p     Arc distance along a specified pitch circle or pitch line between corresponding profiles of adjacent teeth. Transverse circular pitch, pt     Circular pitch in the transverse plane. Normal circular pitch, pn, pe     Circular pitch in the normal plane, and also the length of the arc along the normal pitch helix between helical teeth or threads. Axial pitch, px     Linear pitch in an axial plane and in a pitch surface. In helical gears and worms, axial pitch has the same value at all diameters. In gearing of other types, axial pitch may be confined to the pitch surface and may be a circular measurement. The term axial pitch is preferred to the term linear pitch. The axial pitch of a helical worm and the circular pitch of its worm gear are the same. Normal base pitch, pN, pbn     An involute helical gear is the base pitch in the normal plane. It is the normal distance between parallel helical involute surfaces on the plane of action in the normal plane, or is the length of arc on the normal base helix. It is a constant distance in any helical involute gear. Transverse base pitch, pb, pbt     In an involute gear, the pitch is on the base circle or along the line of action. Corresponding sides of involute gear teeth are parallel curves, and the base pitch is the constant and fundamental distance between them along a common normal in a transverse plane. Diametral pitch (transverse), Pd     Ratio of the number of teeth to the standard pitch diameter in inches.         P d = N d = 25.4 m = π p {\displaystyle P_{\rm {d}}={\frac {N}{d}}={\frac {25.4}{m}}={\frac {\pi }{p}}} P_{\rm d} = \frac{N}{d} = \frac{25.4}{m} = \frac{\pi}{p} Normal diametrical pitch, Pnd     Value of diametrical pitch in a normal plane of a helical gear or worm.         P n d = P d cos ⁡ ψ {\displaystyle P_{\rm {nd}}={\frac {P_{\rm {d}}}{\cos \psi }}} P_{\rm nd} = \frac{P_{\rm d}}{\cos\psi} Angular pitch, θN, τ     Angle subtended by the circular pitch, usually expressed in radians.         τ = 360 z {\displaystyle \tau ={\frac {360}{z}}} \tau = \frac{360}{z} degrees or 2 π z {\displaystyle {\frac {2\pi }{z}}} \frac{2\pi}{z} radians Backlash Main article: Backlash (engineering) Backlash is the error in motion that occurs when gears change direction. It exists because there is always some gap between the trailing face of the driving tooth and the leading face of the tooth behind it on the driven gear, and that gap must be closed before force can be transferred in the new direction. The term "backlash" can also be used to refer to the size of the gap, not just the phenomenon it causes; thus, one could speak of a pair of gears as having, for example, "0.1 mm of backlash." A pair of gears could be designed to have zero backlash, but this would presuppose perfection in manufacturing, uniform thermal expansion characteristics throughout the system, and no lubricant. Therefore, gear pairs are designed to have some backlash. It is usually provided by reducing the tooth thickness of each gear by half the desired gap distance. In the case of a large gear and a small pinion, however, the backlash is usually taken entirely off the gear and the pinion is given full sized teeth. Backlash can also be provided by moving the gears further apart. The backlash of a gear train equals the sum of the backlash of each pair of gears, so in long trains backlash can become a problem. For situations that require precision, such as instrumentation and control, backlash can be minimized through one of several techniques. For instance, the gear can be split along a plane perpendicular to the axis, one half fixed to the shaft in the usual manner, the other half placed alongside it, free to rotate about the shaft, but with springs between the two-halves providing relative torque between them, so that one achieves, in effect, a single gear with expanding teeth. Another method involves tapering the teeth in the axial direction and letting the gear slide in the axial direction to take up slack. Shifting of gears In some machines (e.g., automobiles) it is necessary to alter the gear ratio to suit the task, a process known as gear shifting or changing gear. There are several ways of shifting gears, for example:     Manual transmission     Automatic transmission     Derailleur gears, which are actually sprockets in combination with a roller chain     Hub gears (also called epicyclic gearing or sun-and-planet gears) There are several outcomes of gear shifting in motor vehicles. In the case of vehicle noise emissions, there are higher sound levels emitted when the vehicle is engaged in lower gears. The design life of the lower ratio gears is shorter, so cheaper gears may be used, which tend to generate more noise due to smaller overlap ratio and a lower mesh stiffness etc. than the helical gears used for the high ratios. This fact has been used to analyze vehicle-generated sound since the late 1960s, and has been incorporated into the simulation of urban roadway noise and corresponding design of urban noise barriers along roadways.[40] Tooth profile     Profile of a spur gear     Profile of a spur gear     Undercut     Undercut A profile is one side of a tooth in a cross section between the outside circle and the root circle. Usually a profile is the curve of intersection of a tooth surface and a plane or surface normal to the pitch surface, such as the transverse, normal, or axial plane. The fillet curve (root fillet) is the concave portion of the tooth profile where it joins the bottom of the tooth space.2 As mentioned near the beginning of the article, the attainment of a nonfluctuating velocity ratio is dependent on the profile of the teeth. Friction and wear between two gears is also dependent on the tooth profile. There are a great many tooth profiles that provide constant velocity ratios. In many cases, given an arbitrary tooth shape, it is possible to develop a tooth profile for the mating gear that provides a constant velocity ratio. However, two constant velocity tooth profiles are the most commonly used in modern times: the cycloid and the involute. The cycloid was more common until the late 1800s. Since then, the involute has largely superseded it, particularly in drive train applications. The cycloid is in some ways the more interesting and flexible shape; however the involute has two advantages: it is easier to manufacture, and it permits the center-to-center spacing of the gears to vary over some range without ruining the constancy of the velocity ratio. Cycloidal gears only work properly if the center spacing is exactly right. Cycloidal gears are still used in mechanical clocks. An undercut is a condition in generated gear teeth when any part of the fillet curve lies inside of a line drawn tangent to the working profile at its point of juncture with the fillet. Undercut may be deliberately introduced to facilitate finishing operations. With undercut the fillet curve intersects the working profile. Without undercut the fillet curve and the working profile have a common tangent. Gear materials Wooden gears of a historic windmill Numerous nonferrous alloys, cast irons, powder-metallurgy and plastics can be used in the manufacture of gears. However, steels are most commonly used because of their high strength-to-weight ratio and low cost. Plastic is commonly used where cost or weight is a concern. A properly designed plastic gear can replace steel in many cases because it has many desirable properties, including dirt tolerance, low speed meshing, the ability to "skip" quite well[41] and the ability to be made with materials that don't need additional lubrication. Manufacturers have used plastic gears to reduce costs in consumer items including copy machines, optical storage devices, cheap dynamos, consumer audio equipment, servo motors, and printers. Another advantage of the use of plastics, formerly (such as in the 1980s), was the reduction of repair costs for certain expensive machines. In cases of severe jamming (as of the paper in a printer), the plastic gear teeth would be torn free of their substrate, allowing the drive mechanism to then spin freely (instead of damaging itself by straining against the jam). This use of "sacrificial" gear teeth avoided destroying the much more expensive motor and related parts. This method has been superseded, in more recent designs, by the use of clutches and torque- or current-limited motors. ...
  • Condition: Used
  • Condition: In very good, pre-owned condition. Please see photos and description.
  • Pattern: Solid
  • Color: Black
  • Material: Stoneware
  • MPN: 701.641.49
  • Year Manufactured: 2011
  • Subject: Industrial
  • Brand: IKEA
  • Type: Vase
  • Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
  • Era: 21st Century (2000-Now)
  • Model: Oväntad
  • Style: Modern
  • Theme: Abstract, Floral & Garden, Fun & Curiosity, Houses & Architecture, Robots, Silhouettes, Steampunk, Zen
  • Time Period Manufactured: 2000-2009
  • Backstamp: Printed
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: China
  • Production Technique: Pottery
  • Finish: Lead-Free Glaze
  • Product Line: Oväntad

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