Vintage vases

Well it seems that another collection has crept up on me in the still of the night.  It all started with Sunbeam mixers, then moved on to vintage bra straps and then peacocks.  I'm starting to notice that when my eye turns towards something or some style, that particular something slowly accumulates in my house and before I know it, *poof!* a collection is born!  The one I've most recently noticed is white ceramic vases.

This is the first one I picked up at a rummage for 50cents.  No markings on the bottom, but the bird reminded me of Victorian tombstones.  And not many people know this, but I have a love of old tombstones.

When I need a break from the noisy barnyard, I enjoy a walk through the old crumbling down cemeteries.  I enjoy the history and the design of the stones.  If you piece together the stories of the people that are there, it seems to put life in perspective.  This bird looks like he's flying to a better place.

And of course we are all familiar with this classic beauty.  I found her locally at a thrift store and paid a whopping $20.  She's stamped "Design 2 USA" on the bottom.

I've seen beautiful versions of her, painted in soft pastels with lush eyelashes, but I like the simplicity of the white.  And she makes a great holder for my hair flowers!

This large vase, standing a full foot tall, was purchased in my above mentioned peacock craze.  Marked "P168" on the bottom, I don't know anything else about it.  I can easily recognize the soft pastels of Majolica and the apple cookie jars of Hull, but these white pieces have me stumped.  Are they also Hull?

And as much as I'd love to put a bouquet of peonies in here, I can't contort my fingers down in the bottom to clean it out.  So I'll suffice with quality silk.

This Art Deco bust was also purchased at the same thrift store.  She is stamped "Japan" on the bottom.  It's hard to see in the photo, but there is quite a lot of relief design on the sides of the vase behind her and on the base.

She only stands eight inches tall and has some crazing in the finish.  But I instantly fell in love with her Mona Lisa smile and cocked shoulder.

So if any of you are more familiar with this style pottery, I'd love to know more.  And now that I have this official collection, I might just stroll over to etsy to see what else it out there.

Happy Spring Everyone!

Update:   So my bit of etsy surfing leads me to believe that most of these are mid-century McCoy vases.  I even found the top one listed as a Redwing 'Bird of Paradise' vase.  Does this ring a bell to anyone?  And of course I found a few more to add to the collection!  :)