There are fewer metal flip-top bowls than any other kind.
The one below came from Australia and has a contemporary look and cantilevered handle in the back that slowly falls and opens the lid when the spoon is removed. So sleek and so mid-century!
It is 8 3/4" wide by 3 1/2" high, not including the slot for the spoon that came with it. When the spoon is removed, the lid flips up.
The third photo down shows the engraving on the top of the flip's lid: BREV.No 69348. I have attempted to contact the Australian company Breville to see if this is one of their early designs but couldn't connect with anyone who cared to research it.
At right, a 1911 L. Barth and Co. catalog shows this same flip, "Handled Cracker and Cheese Bowl – Made of very heavy gauge copper, with center partition, double hinged covers and elaborately designed handle. The bowl is silver lined inside, all the outside being heavily nickel plated. A fitting ornament for the best bars, yet made for practical service."
Height, 12 inches; diameter, 10 inches.
A divider down the center (see photo below) would separate the cheese from crackers on a bar or hotel buffet table. |
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 This very nice metal flip was made for Bickford's, the cafeteria chain that started in the Northeast in 1922 and that expanded over 40 years into Florida and California.
As you can see by its backstamp, it was made by Continental Silver Company, which apparently operated at 32 33rd Street in Brooklyn in the 1930s to 1950s.
Because of its sleek Art Deco style and with the additional information on the years Continental Silver was in business, I'd date this piece to the 1930s.
Scroll down to see another flip with a similar shape and concentric circle design made by Wear-Brite.
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This unusual small bowl, only 4 1/2" side by 2 1/4" high, is cloissoné over metal. It has a MEDCO lid.
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This flip has a handle, a style seen occasionally that opens the lid when it is pushed backwards.
Read more about the Italian restaurant it came from on its own page: O. Giolito.
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This beautiful old flip looks more like what I think of as the traditional pottery or glass bowls. Wear-Brite is a trade name for Grand Silver Company, in business since 1918. Its line of nickel silver ware is in use in hotels, restaurants, airplanes and ocean liners.
The most recent site of manufacturing was the South Bronx, N.Y., but this piece was probably made in the plant's original location in Chinatown, N.Y., 1918 to 1962. It is 5" wide by 3 1/8" high.
This bowl was made by Kraft Chicago of stainless steel and measures 5 1/4" wide by 5" high.
This flip is new, made by the Italian design company Alessi. It is 5" wide by 3" high.
 
This triangular stainless steel bowl is also new, purchased from LaRuso.ca, a Canadian website.
 It was made by Catering Line.
It is 5 5/8" wide by 1 7/8" high.
Click on photos for larger images.
This flip is 5 1/2" wide by 2 1/4" high and was made by Vollrath. Jacob Johann Vollrath started an enamelware kitchenware business around 136 years ago (as of 2012) in Sheboygan, Wisc., eventually moving to stainless steel as the commercial market changed. This is a new bowl.
This completely plain metal flip has no maker's marks on it at all and is the first one I've seen like this. It is around 6 inches in diameter.
This chrome flip was sold by Etsy seller PortugueseWonders, based in Portugal. If you click the photo to see a larger version, it appears that there might have been a fill line.
The bowl is very small: about 3 1/4" in diameter and 1 3/4" in height. (Many thanks to the seller for use of the photo.)
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