Art Deco Green Pressed Glass Bowl with Elephant Trunk Handles

Every now and then a piece of 1930s pressed glass turns up that makes us laugh out loud, and this one did. Two handles curl up and outward from the rim like elephant trunks raised in greeting, and the effect is somehow both elegant and a little bit daft. We adore it.

The bowl itself is a lovely example of British Art Deco glass at its most playful. The body is moulded with a frosted, rippled texture that runs in bands around the sides, so the light breaks up as it passes through and the green glows from within. Turn it over and you will find a moulded spiral in the base, another little flourish from a decade that could not resist decorating the underside of things. 

It measures 24 cm across the handles, 23 cm from front to back and stands 9 cm tall, which makes it a useful size. Ours has spent the week holding a heap of dried hydrangea heads on the kitchen table, and it looked like it had been styled by someone who knew what they were doing. It would work just as well as a fruit bowl, a spot for keys and post by the front door, or a centrepiece for a table with a few tea lights around it so the glass catches the flame.

Condition is very good for its age. The moulded texture has the soft, slightly uneven finish that comes with pressed glass of this period rather than anything factory perfect. Nothing that distracts from the whole, and plenty that adds to its charm.

Green glass of this era looks wonderful massed together, so if you already have a jug or a vase in a similar shade, this bowl will settle in happily beside them. If you do not, it is a very good place to start.