Vintage Pair of White Ceramic Shell Tazzas with Dolphin and Seahorse Stems

A pair of white ceramic shell tazzas that manage to be grand and whimsical at the same time, which is exactly what we like about them. Each is a scallop shell dish held aloft on a sea creature: one a plump dolphin standing on its nose in the manner of a Renaissance fountain, the other a seahorse with a flower tucked into its curl. Both sit on square plinths moulded to look like rockwork, with raised lettering along the front edge that tells us these came out of a proper mould rather than being knocked up in a craft shop. The all over white glaze picks up the ridges of the shells and the scales of the seahorse beautifully, and it means they go with everything.

They were almost certainly made on the Continent in the mid 20th century, when Italian and Portuguese potteries turned out white shell ware for the tourist and export trade in enormous quantities. The pair is a happy one rather than a matched set, which is why the stems differ, and we think that is the whole charm. Each stands 27 cm tall and 17 cm across the shell, a good size for a pair of candles, a handful of sea glass, soap by the basin or a single hydrangea head apiece. On a mantelpiece they bookend nicely; on a dressing table they make sense of rings and earrings; in a bathroom they are the obvious answer.

Both are in good vintage condition with the small glaze nicks you would expect from decades on a shelf: a couple of tiny flakes to the rim of one shell and a small chip to the corner of one plinth, none of which shows from the front and all of which is photographed. The glaze has a soft creamy tone rather than a stark white, so they sit well with linen, limewash and pale wood. If you have been after that Grand Tour meets seaside look without the price of a marble original, this is the pair.