These vases have been in my home for many, many years. The one with the lady with the full skirt, and basket of flowers, was in my family’s kitchen window when I was a teenager. She always looked so blissfully peaceful looking out over us, from above the kitchen sink. All of these vases are from the 1940’s or 1950’s, with the exception of the Dresden vase which maybe older.
The little square vase, with gold leaf painted trim and a different floral spray in each square’s side view is a Dresden vase. Most Dresden vases were destroyed during the bombing of Dresden, Germany in 1945. The floral spray is common of Meissen Dresden vases of the time. Mine says merely “H Dresden” on the bottom; therefore it is difficult to tell who made it for sure. I was given this vase many years ago by a friend of a friend. The elderly gentleman that gave it to me was moving into a home. His wife had died and he was alone, with no children to give their artistic treasures to. He asked me to take something and “enjoy” it. I have been joying it for over thirty years now and consider it one of my most valuable, treasured items. I attached a drawing and watercolor of this vase that I did years ago.
The hand vase I found around thirty years ago at some flea market. I am not sure if it is from the 1940’s or 1950’s. It is great for holding rings even if it doesn’t have a flower in the vase.
The head vase with the woman with the pearl necklace and earring I bought when I was in my twenties. I like how the woman’s face on the vase looks so calm and happy, plus her cheeks are so shiny! The vase is from the 1950’s. I had more vases like this before 1994, which is when my daughter and I moved to Colorado many years ago. Now she is there and I am here in Brooklyn, NY.
The lamb vase is from the 1940’s. It was my father’s when he was a small child. My grandmother told him that if he behaved well at the dental office, she would buy it for him afterwards. He was five at the time.
The picture of the lady walking her dog is not a vase, however it is in the same vein of antique, or vintage pieces. Years ago she had a parasol, which eventually fell apart so I discarded it. She is lovely, with her little dog.
When we moved out West way back then we sent most of our things via UPS, so we didn’t take much. Life gets so much more complicated and one ages, saves things and has children, or in my case a child. After that there are boxes of pictures, one collects more things as one gets older. Finally a few years ago I just stopped adding new houseware items to my collection. I just keep and treasure what I have, since there is really no more room for more at least at this point!
There are many vendors selling vintage and antique vases on Etsy or EBay. I found this one particular vendor who has a great collection of head vases at the moment. Her shop is: VintageDreamPlaza on Etsy. Gabriella Rossetti has been selling on Etsy since 2012 on Etsy. Here is a link to her site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageDreamPlaza?ref=shopsection_shophome_leftnav
I hope you enjoyed this post about vintage vases. I have some lovely pieces of other vintage houseware items I have collected through the years. Perhaps I can get to those in another post!
VintageDreamPlaza
VintageDreamPlaza
VintageDreamPlaza
All photos by Marilyn Lavender. (Except Vintage Dream Plaza ones) All written material by: © Marilyn Lavender, 2015. “All Rights Reserved.”