Vintage Ceramicarte Portuguese Studio Pottery Bottle Vase with Painted Bird

A tall, elegant bottle vase from Ceramicarte, the Portuguese art pottery studio, thrown in a warm speckled stoneware the colour of caramel and toffee. Wrapped around the body is a stylised bird, its wing swept out in fine strokes of slate blue, black and pale turquoise, with a small dark eye watching from the shoulder. Long brushed fronds trail up the slender neck, finished with a few soft turquoise spots.

The base carries the painted mark Ceramicarte, Cascais, Portugal, with the decorator's initials L.S. and the date 87, so we know this was made in 1987. A signature is also scratched into the glaze near the foot. Cascais sits on the coast just west of Lisbon, and Portuguese studio pottery of this period is finding more and more collectors, as people discover how inventive the country's potters were beyond the familiar painted tiles.

The shape is a joy: a full, rounded belly rising to a long flared neck, which gives it real presence on a shelf. It stands 26cm tall and measures 13cm in diameter, and it feels reassuringly solid in the hand. The glaze has the depth you only get from stoneware, with flecks of iron showing through the oatmeal ground.

It is in good vintage condition, with light wear to the unglazed foot as you would expect from a piece of this age.

A single stem of dried eucalyptus, honesty or a long grass suits that narrow neck perfectly. Group it with other earthy studio pieces on a mantelpiece, or let it stand alone on a deep windowsill where the light picks out the speckles in the glaze. It would sit beautifully with linen, natural wood and pale walls, and would make a thoughtful gift for anyone who collects European studio pottery.