Nice vase but there's a hole in it!

Tagged: vase

This topic has 11 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 7 months ago by Antique Frog.

Viewing 11 reply threads

Author

Posts
- 08/29/2020 at 9:31 am #81082
  Castle Rock Emporium
  Participant
  Location: Between Boston & Providence
  @elizabeth
  Nice piece of pottery with Maker’s Mark but there is a purposeful hole in the side! Subtle grass etchings, love the color.
  
  https://imgur.com/a/1do0fr5
- 08/29/2020 at 9:34 am #81083
  Jay
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @jay
  Maybe a weird plant pot that needs a tray for excess water coming out of the hole?
- 08/29/2020 at 9:44 am #81084
  debitendcredits
  Participant
  Location: Albuquerque, NM
  @debitendcreits
  bird feeder of some sort? Is the a way to hang it?
- 08/29/2020 at 9:45 am #81085
  Castle Rock Emporium
  Participant
  Location: Between Boston & Providence
  @elizabeth
  Ummmm, I don’t see a way to get dirt into it. Your comment makes me think it would work for an air plant but not sure that’s original purpose. Any thoughts on the Artist mark?
- 08/29/2020 at 10:13 am #81086
  Castle Rock Emporium
  Participant
  Location: Between Boston & Providence
  @elizabeth
  No way to hang it….
- 08/29/2020 at 11:21 am #81089
  Temudgin
  Participant
  Location: Jacksonville FL
  @temudgin
  That’s a bunghole into which is inserted a bung, stopper, cork, or spout. Indicating it was intended for potable liquids, perhaps for use in brewing or winemaking.
  
  Did where you found it give any indication of its possible age or what country it may have come from?
- 08/29/2020 at 1:04 pm #81092
  Castle Rock Emporium
  Participant
  Location: Between Boston & Providence
  @elizabeth
  Thanks, that helps! (I will have to look up what a bung is!) No idea where it came from originally, I found it at an Estate Sale.
- 08/29/2020 at 5:59 pm #81095
  Temudgin
  Participant
  Location: Jacksonville FL
  @temudgin
  The reason I ask is that age is hard to tell from pictures. Is it just a product of one of hundreds of obscure art potters working post-WWII in the US and England? Why would an art potter make something with a bunghole?
  
  As you know some really old things can still come out of New England attics and basements. The base looks like it’s made of red earthenware, the decoration looks like sgraffito, the letters are in an old style, and it has a bunghole. With all that, it could be a water cooler from the 1700s – 1800s even if it doesn’t look exactly like known examples. If it were mine I’d send pictures to Sotheby’s , Christie’s, etc. and try and find an early American pottery expert to see what they think.
- 08/30/2020 at 6:07 am #81098
  Antique Frog
  Participant
  Location: Leicester
  @antique-frog
  Probably a lamp base- the hole would be for the plastic grip to hold the wires. Top would have a plastic fitment for the bulb socket. The addition of metal strips to the glaze is pretty unusual.
- 08/30/2020 at 8:31 am #81102
  Temudgin
  Participant
  Location: Jacksonville FL
  @temudgin
  Hah. Didn’t even notice those metal strips. I think you’ve called it, AF.
- 08/30/2020 at 9:56 am #81109
  Castle Rock Emporium
  Participant
  Location: Between Boston & Providence
  @elizabeth
  I am swaying towards that it is a bottle that would have two corks. The bung hole is to let out sediment (?) similar to my grease separator (pan drippings grease rises to the top)? It looks in way too good condition for 1700’s or 1800’s time period. I think some scotch tape is being confused for metal strips and it would be a pretty small lamp….
  
  Thank you for all the suggestions though!
- 08/30/2020 at 11:33 am #81112
  Antique Frog
  Participant
  Location: Leicester
  @antique-frog
  Well, you’ve got the bottle but in the photos it looks like there’s glaze on top of those strips- I would have expected tape to have burnt off in the firing. There’s a potter called Huw Powell Roberts who signs his pots HPR but handwritten, not stamped.
Author

Posts