All Vases & Terrariums

Handblown glass and hand-fired ceramic — the best decorative vases balance shape, material, and the ability to hold water without making the whole production look like it is trying too hard. This collection covers Pooley bud vases, Loft wedding sets, glass vessels in over a dozen shapes, and ceramic pieces fired at the studio. The vase is the frame. The flower is the painting. A good frame knows when to shut up.

Narrow necks suit single stems and small bouquets by keeping them upright; wide mouths accommodate looser, fuller arrangements. Vase shapes determine the arrangement more than the flowers do — a cylinder holds stems vertical, a compote spreads them outward, a bud vase isolates one. Match the shape to the stem count rather than the flower species. The shape does half the arranging before your hands get involved.

Match the vase opening to the stem count — a flower arrangement vase with a narrow neck holds a few stems upright; a wide mouth lets a dozen fall where they want. The vessel height should complement the stems at roughly a two-thirds ratio: stem length above the rim roughly double the vase height visible below. The math sounds fussy. The result looks effortless. That gap between the two is where good vases live.

Warm water, a drop of soap, and a bottle brush with soft bristles — how to clean a vase is simple until the neck is narrower than the wrist, at which point it becomes an engineering problem humanity has been solving with mixed results since the first person put flowers in a container and then confronted what the flowers left behind. Rice grains shaken in warm water work for vases that defeat the brush. A denture tablet dissolved overnight handles the ones that defeat the rice. The vase wins the first round. The owner wins eventually, using tools designed for entirely different problems. The satisfaction is disproportionate. The vase does not apologise.

A vase for tall flowers needs a heavy base and a height that supports at least one-third of the stem below the rim — top-heavy arrangements tip when the vessel is too light or too short for the stem length. The ceramic pieces in this collection carry more weight than glass at equivalent size, which helps. Counterbalance is the engineering. The flower gets the credit. The vase never mentions its contribution.

Three to five inches for short stems; seven inches and above for long — the best vases for flowers are the ones scaled to the stems they hold. An oversized vase drowns a small bouquet. A small vase topples under a tall arrangement. Vase sizes are a proportion question, not a preference one. The eye knows when the ratio is wrong before the brain can explain why. Trust the eye. It has practice.

Clean lines, a single material, and a footprint small enough to share a surface without competing for it — a minimalist vase works by taking up less visual space than the flower it holds. This collection includes bud vases sized for windowsills and shelves where a single stem is the entire arrangement. Minimalism in vases is restraint in three dimensions. The vase disappears. The flower does not. That is the design working.

A studio that designs from the period's principles rather than its catalogue — a mid century modern vase should be shaped for function, coloured with intent, and free of decoration that exists only to decorate. This collection includes glass and ceramic pieces that follow that logic. The mid-century aesthetic was always about the object earning its place in the room. A vase that earns its shelf still looks mid-century. A vase that copies one just looks careful.