Studio Pottery Trumpet Vase in Ombre Blue with a Frilled Rim

Handmade pottery brings a warmth to a room that factory pieces rarely match, and this studio vase is a lovely example. It rises from a footed base in a flared trumpet shape, opening out to a wavy frilled rim that gives it real movement, as though caught mid flourish. The glaze is the making of it, graduating from a deep inky blue at the foot up through brighter blues to a soft pale turquoise at the rim, mottled and textured where the colours meet so that no two areas look quite the same.

It measures 13.5 x 11 cm, a useful small size that suits a short bunch of flowers, a few stems of eucalyptus or a single showy bloom, and it holds its own empty just as well. The flared rim frames whatever you put in it, and the weight of the deep blue at the base keeps it grounded and steady on a shelf or a sill.

Studio pottery, thrown and glazed by an individual maker rather than turned out by a factory, has a growing following for its craftsmanship and its one of a kind character. The hand finished frilled rim and the graduated glaze here are exactly the details that make handmade pieces so pleasing to own.

Set it on a windowsill where the light can pass through the paler blues, group it with other blue and white or studio ceramics for a collected shelf, or stand it alone on a mantel or a stack of books as a piece of colour and craft. The blues look wonderful against wood, cream and greenery. Characterful, tactile and made entirely by hand, it is a lovely thing to use or simply to look at.