Diane wrote:
I have never subscribed to the general practice of beginning with an hypothesis as "theory" for which post-hoc justification is then sought. ...
[deleted for brevity]
My research into this question was completed before the end of 2012, but from that I offered in 2013 a very 'summary' summary - and there again I specified bamboo, and fitted lids for the cylindrical containers etc.
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I've never assumed the VMS containers have exact counterparts in real life, just as I've never assumed the fancy "columns" or vases on the sides of illuminated manuscripts have exact counterparts in real life. The VMS "containers" might have existed, but it's by no means certain.
If it's the case that they don't have exact counterparts in real life, if some of them, or parts of them, are embellished, imagined, or invented, then the best we can do is examine the kinds of objects that may have inspired the shapes.
I have never subscribed to the general practice of beginning with an hypothesis as "theory" for which post-hoc justification is then sought. ...
[deleted for brevity]
My research into this question was completed before the end of 2012, but from that I offered in 2013 a very 'summary' summary - and there again I specified bamboo, and fitted lids for the cylindrical containers etc.
----------------------------------------------------
I've never assumed the VMS containers have exact counterparts in real life, just as I've never assumed the fancy "columns" or vases on the sides of illuminated manuscripts have exact counterparts in real life. The VMS "containers" might have existed, but it's by no means certain.
If it's the case that they don't have exact counterparts in real life, if some of them, or parts of them, are embellished, imagined, or invented, then the best we can do is examine the kinds of objects that may have inspired the shapes.