Wet brush rest?
I would think they're meant to be a place to put your brushes down when you switch between a few of them. Maybe?
My guess is that you fill it with napkins, envelopes or some flat, paper-like item and the slot allows you to access them easily.
I've never seen it before, just a guess.
Would wager you’re spot on. Judging from the photo, it looks like it would be the perfect size for those pink packets of sweeteners.
The dimensions of a sweetener look right, I'm just not sure about scale. OP says a pan, which would be bigger than a sweetener holder I imagine.
It looks like a manufacturer's defect to me. Looks like injection molding gone slightly wrong - maybe a bubble or a mold not quite filled up. I worked in a place that made plant pots and sometimes they came out of the machine with gaps in the rims, and I had to stack the good ones and toss the bad ones into a bin for the grinder. Looks like they skipped that bit.
It feels like that. But 4 totally identical defects? I mean it could I guess, if there's a repeatable issue.
If they're injection molded, and there's a problem with the flow or the pressure, it could produce several runs that have the same void in one pan before someone notices and fixes it.
Maybe they're to place a dirty brush in for temp holding
Is this a watercolour pan? I have no idea what the cutout would be for bud.
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