Glass inkwells or pen holders or ?

Hi all, picked these up last week. They are hand blown with Pontil marks . Any ideas what their purpose is? Age, origin?
Has me stumped

 

Welcome, @Twigs, and thank you for joining us. It would be helpful if you posted photographs of your items taken against a plain background. Also, provide us with dimensions. And tell us in what part of the world you found them. (This is an international forum.)

Debora

 

Cruet set?

 

They were purchased in the uk 8cm long x 4cm wide x 5cm deep

 

They could be for spices with a cork in the end, but I am just guessing

 

Is that red (?) colour in the glass? Or is it a residue?

 

You could try smelling it. you might smell the spices, or the vinegar, or the wine.

And if you wake up in a hospital, you'll know it was used for something toxic

 

Some of it shook out when I tipped it upside down, but it is more of a metallic ochre

 

I think quite possibly they are ink bottles, something along the same lines as THIS or THIS...?
(Ink bottles are for storing ink, while inkwells are for dipping pens into. One wouldn't be able to dip a pen nib in those bottles unless they were very full of ink.)

 

why such a strange design then...

 

This seems to be the best use for them, although they could be used as travel inkwells if you turn the bottles so the spouts point skywards

 

It doesn't appear that the bottles would be able to sit flat on the table surface if turned that way?

 

This is from the seller's description of the second bottle bluumz gave link for:

"...has gold paint residue inside as someone used it for paint,..."

I think it looks like something metallic & gold in color has settled to the bottom of your bottles, so wondering if they are meant to accommodate a fine brush rather than a pen? Maybe when not in use they are corked & sit on the flat side as shown, but then tipped so the opening of the neck faces upward for use?