Forthcoming Attractions: End March 2015

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Collection of vintage mid century modern pottery homeware items

We’ve picked up some lovely pieces of vintage mid century modern pottery on our travels this week.

Vintage Ceramica di Milano pottery vase | H is for Home

This vase dates from the 1950s/60s and was produced in Italy by Ceramica di Milano. These wares have their devoted fans, but generally speaking they’re not that well known and a bit underrated perhaps. They’re all very individual – and hand painted too. Fabulous decoration on this one with a very stylish bambolina – she’ll break a few hearts!

Vintage pottery bull by Elizabeth Skipworth for Lotus Pottery | H is for Home

This bull was designed by Elizabeth Skipworth for Lotus Pottery in the 1960s. They come in various sizes – this one’s a small money box.

Vintage Hornsea Pottery 'Tricorn' preserve pot | H is for Home

Next we have this stunning, lidded preserve pot. It’s from the ‘Tricorn’ range introduced by Hornsea Pottery in 1958; one of John Clappison’s early designs and becoming increasingly sought after.

Vintage pottery lamp base | H is for Home

This lamp dates from a similar period. Classic fifties colourway of grey & yellow. It’s unmarked, but we’ve had a similar lamp before. The names on the tip of our keypad! It would look great with a new drum shade in a grey hessian.

Vintage Poole Pottery 'Delphis' dish designed by Carol Cutler | H is for Home

Last but certainly not least – a classic piece of Poole Pottery ‘Delphis’ dating from the late 60s or early 70s. It’s by Carol Cutler, one of the most highly regarded decorators at the factory. She has a distinctive style with a wonderful flowing design and stunning colours.

We’ll be listing all these pieces in our webshop in the next few days.

O is for… Owl

"O is for... Owl" blog post banner

detail from a brown vintage pottery money box in the shape of an owl

These are the big eyes of our latest owl – in this case, a pottery money box.

pottery pan trivet / pot stand in the shape of an owl pottery pan trivet / pot stand in the shape of an owl

vintage tin money box with owl decoration vintage pottery mug with owl face in relief on the side

They never stay with us long as these feathered friends are consistently popular in our shop.

green glazed vintage owl figure produced by Lotus Pottery

Whether in the form of money boxes, mugs, pot stands, textile prints, pictures or book illustrations.

small vintage white lustre pottery figure in the shape of an owl small vintage Shelf Pottery owl figure

vintage white pottery mug with transfer printed owl figure brown vintage Hornsea Pottery mug with transfer printed owl decoration designed by John Clappison

We’ve blogged a fair few times about the great illustrator, Kenneth Townsend. He designed the cutest owl as part of his Menagerie series – apparently the owl was his favourite animal!

vintage Kenneth Townsend pottery owl tile

Another wonderful illustrator with a thing for owls was Celestino Piatti who once said, “You can draw an owl a thousand times, and never find out its secret”.

mosaic of vintage Celestino Piatti owl illustrations
image credit: Fishink

We’ve had a quick trawl on the web for some more owls – here are some favourites:

cover from vintage book, "A Book of Various Owls" by John Hollander, illustrated by Tomi Ungerer and published by W.W. Norton & Company in 1963
image credit: Vintage Kids” Books my Kid Loves

bright orange ceramic owl available from Anthropologie
Wise Ol’ Canister, Orange: £118 – Anthropologie

Happy owl open edition print by Matte Stephens on Etsy
Happy owl open edition print by Matte Stephens: $35 – Etsy

"day time owl" 3D art tutorial from mmmcrafts"night time owl" 3D art tutorial from mmmcrafts
image credit: mmmcrafts

vintage german matchbox cover with owl illustration
image credit: Shailesh Chavda