The non-drip oil bottle was created in 1961 by the Spanish architect and designer
Rafael Marquina i Audouard (1921-2013). This product was not designed by order but by free innovation of its author, mainly on the occasion of the first
ICSID congress, in Stockholm. Due to erroneous press releases, there is a widespread idea that the author was inspired by
laboratory glassware, particularly an
Erlenmeyer flask. However, Marquina commented that this theory surprised him when he read it in several reviews because it is not true and that, in fact, thanks to them he learned what an
Erlenmeyer was. Marquina belongs to the first wave of
industrial design in Spain, in the 60s, still under the Franco dictatorship. At this time the first fruits of the
Stabilization Plan were sprouting, by which the Government decided to reindustrialize the nation promoting economic prosperity and the consumer society (the so-called "
Spanish miracle"). Other prominent names of the wave are
André Ricard or Miguel Milá. These designers began their careers designing small household products, highlighting some such as the
Fase Boomerang table lamp by Industrias Fase, the
Riaza chair by Paco Muñoz, the
TCM floor lamp by Miguel Milá or the
Copenhagen ashtray by André Ricard. Marquina oil bottles became common in Spanish household items, along with the French
Duralex glassware and the
moka pot, called in Spain "Italian coffee maker". They were also typical in bars and restaurants, until the use of refillable oil bottles in public businesses was prohibited by law (Royal Decree 895/2013). The popularity of the Marquina oil cruet also made it an icon of Spanish industrial design, and more particularly of
Catalan design. It is one of the most copied design objects in the world, and Rafael Marquina owned a personal collection of 150 plagiarisms of the object, of which he states that "80 % doesn't work". and sold by the Nanimarquina house founded by the designer's daughter, Elena Marquina. == Technical aspects ==