Mysterious girl. Stylish 1950s bust of a girl.

Here's something I found recently about which, I have to admit, I know nothing at all.

This beautiful head and shoulders of a girl is made from that sort of chalky pottery that easily chips. She's about nine inches high and is very much in the 1950s style. There's an unreadable signature on the back with the wording Bust No. 4. I wonder if there are more in the same style?

I like the stylised, exaggerated shape and the curved lines. The colours work well too.

A mystery she may be but I'll have to make room to display her somewhere.

Matching lamp base for Poole Freeform vase

It seems like ages ago when I did a blogpost on a Poole Freeform vase from the 1950s. Remember this:  Poole Freeform vase. 

Here is a matching item that I have had displayed with the vase. This item is actually a lamp base but I think it looks more elegant displayed without any of the fittings. The design is hand-painted, I think by Gwen Haskins, and I have an idea that it dates from the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Slip-decorated dishes from the 1950s. More butterflies.

The butterfly plaque featured in the last blog-post reminded me of these colourful butterfly pin dishes.

These small dishes are only about 4 inches (10cm) wide but they are really nicely decorated with hand-applied butterfly illustrations. The image of the butterfly is made up of a series of dots and trails in coloured slip that must have taken great skill and accuracy to apply.

The colour combinations are fabulous and so typical of the 1950s.

The dishes are by Hornsea pottery and were made in or around 1956. There's quite a range of similar Hornsea slip-decorated items from this era. Remember the fish dish posted a while ago: Hornsea fish dish 

Schmider fish 1950s. Love those lips.

Don't you just love those lips.

Here's a quirky item from the mid-1950s. A wonderful spotty fish with green fins and bright red lips.

I think it was originally designed to be used as an ashtray and was made by Schmider, West Germany.

According to Petra on Pottery, this is a design by Anneliese Beckh, Schmiders main designer between 1950 and 1983.

I don't often come across Schmider pottery but I did do a posting on a couple of items from the Tigris range some time ago: Tigris cats

Looking after the pennies, 1950s style.

If, like me, you're a bit low on funds at this time of year, you may have made a resolution to do some saving up. And to save up, you'll be needing a suitable piggy bank. Luckily for me I have not one but two and they're a couple of beauties.

I can think of no finer way to store-up the surplus small change than with one of these Hornsea Pottery penny piggy banks. Designed in the mid 1950s, almost certainly by John Clappison, they are in a simplified, stylised shape with short legs and long snouts. I particularly like the cylinder-shaped bodies that end in a curly tail.

You can see some more good-looking pottery piggy banks here: The Piggy bank page

Fishy Fellas from the Fifties

And now, as they say, for something completely different.

Admittedly not something you might expect to see on a blogsite like Potshots: I suppose I've been trying to steer away from showing too much 'cute' pottery. Even so, I think these fishy fellas deserve a mention. Not least because in my view, they do have an element of style about them.

Made in the mid-1950s, they are in the form of small posy vases, the tall one has a hole in the back and is designed to be used as a wall pocket. The green one is made from a slightly coarser red clay rather than the usual white. Each one has a stylised fish sitting in front of a wave shape. They were made by Hornsea Pottery and are part of the Fauna range.

I quite like the shape of the fish, and the wave does have some nice flowing curves in it. In fact, the tall vase has such elegant lines that it almost has an Art Deco quality about it.

Rimini Blue vases by Bitossi. Rediscovered

Last week I had to clamber up into the loft space to bring down some suitcases. Whilst I was up there, I couldn't resist peeping into a couple of storage boxes that I put up there two or three years ago. Look what I found in one of the boxes: this selection of wonderful Italian pottery. As I hadn't seen these since the day I'd stored them away, it was like meeting a long-lost friend again.

As far as I know, the range is known as Rimini Blue (or Rimini Blu) and they were made in Italy by Bitossi. Dating this type of pottery is a little more difficult. I have a feeling this range has been produced since the early 1950s, but that some items are still in production today.

The shapes, the fabulous blue/green colour, and the textures are all a joy on the eye.

I have a feeling I have some examples of Bitossi pottery in reds and oranges put away somewhere – I can feel another trip to the loft coming on.

A bit more Midwinter Cassandra

Dashing about a bit today so not much time to do a proper blogpost.

Just time to post a few more pictures of the Midwinter Cassandra range. And to share a link - there's some good information on the history of Midwinter pottery, here: Midwinter history

Midwinter Cassandra 1957

Graphics and surface pattern design have always been a fascination for me. And you can find some amazing designs on ceramics.

So to kick off this little run of non-Hornsea pottery, I thought I'd show a couple of examples of pottery that feature interesting printed designs. This plate by Midwinter pottery is a good one to start with. It features the Cassandra pattern, designed in 1957. The range is transfer printed with an elegant two-colour abstract design with a hint of leaf motif.

I like the Cassandra range. The design seems to me to be so typical of the era. It's cleverly drawn, too. The black outline on the design is made from one continuous line.

I'll try to show some more Midwinter soon.

Studio slipware pin dishes from the 1950s

I don't really have much need for a handy supply of pins but if I did, I'd keep them in a dish like this.

These Stripe-tastic pin dishes were made between 1954 and 1957. Known as studio slipware the dishes were made by (you've guessed it) Hornsea Pottery.

The flared black and white stripe design is hand-applied in coloured slip. The softly-curved rectangular dishes are nice, they stand on a base with four small feet.

There's more Hornsea studio slipware on Potshots here: Studio slipware

A tale of two kitties.

I recently did a blogpost on a Carltonware cat-shaped money box and a Tigris cat vase. Writing those two posts reminded me of two more cats in the collection. One about which I know very little and one about which I know a little more.

This is the first of the the two kitties. A vintage white ceramic cat in an elegant shape. The cat is nicely painted in red and black and has an elongated neck. Other than that, I can't really tell you much more about it. I don't know who designed it or when it was made but it does have a 1950s or 1960s look about it. Any ideas?

Stand by for kitty number two.

Schmider Tigris cat vase

Dating from the 1950s and 1960s, these striking black and yellow pots are easy to spot. The shiny glaze and the painted wavy yellow lines on the black background make them unmissable.

The range is Tigris, designed by Anneliese Beckh for West German pottery manufacturer, Schmider.

The shapes and colour combinations are so typical of the 1950s, remember Elegance by Hornsea Pottery, England from the same era: Hornsea elegance

I like the stylish, simplified shape of the cat vase.

Barovier & Toso Murano glass. Gold and silver to Italy

If there were Olympic medals for glitzy glass, Italy would win gold and silver with these flashy glass creations.

These eye-catching glass forms are by Italian makers, Barovier and Toso. And when it comes to making glass, they've been at it a good while: Barovier founded in 1295.

The large vase in the top picture is a wonderful deep red colour and has gold leaf crackle inclusions. The smaller bowl again is in red but this example has silver inclusions. I have an idea they date from the 1950s. I particularly like the flowing lines and wavy edges.

Barovier and Toso are still going strong today and have a smart website here: Barovier & Toso

A vintage children's book with Mary Blair illustrations

This Sunday, I set my clock for an early start. Sunday is car boot sale day and I always look forward to rooting round all the stalls to see if there are any gems of pottery treasure for the Potshots collection.

This week, even though the weather was good for a change, there were no bootsale pottery bargains to be found. Normally this would be a disappointment – but not this week. Just as I was about to leave, I spotted this beautiful children's song book. It cost me £1. The book is wonderfully illustrated by Mary Blair. This edition was published by Paul Hamlyn in 1966 but the book has a copyright from 1955 to the Golden Press, inc. I would guess, therefore, that the illustrations were done sometime in the 1950s. And aren't they just superb? Here are some pictures of a few of the pages...

Teak, metal, modern design, it must be Danish.

There's something very pleasing about items made from teak and black metal, it's a common combination of materials in mid-century modern design. So I was very pleased to add this small 3-legged candle holder to the Potshots collection this week.

I'm afraid that I don't know a lot about it, though. I would guess it is from the late 1950s or early 1960s. I don't know who made it or where it comes from but would think it's likely to be Danish. Although the candle holder does not have a maker's mark, it has Denmark written all over it. The simple and elegant design, the modern shape and the use of such materials, all indicate that it is probably from Denmark. If you do know for sure, I'd love to hear from you.

The tops of the candle holders are a bit blackened now but they look to be in a brass coloured metal. A nice object. Would look great with some very tall candles.

Cathrineholm Lotus enamelware.

You don't have to hide away your pots and pans in cupboards when they look this good.

If you can find vintage enamelware in good enough condition, and at a sensible price, it's worth picking up. The problem is, it seems to be getting harder to do that, these days. Enamelled metal pots, pans and bowls, like these, look really good displayed on an open kitchen shelf. It's no wonder keen collectors are now snapping up all the best pieces. This type of enamelware is well-made and comes in some fabulous colours and designs.

Most of the examples shown here are in the popular and very beautiful Lotus pattern produced by Cathrineholm, Norway in the 1950s and 1960s. Often the Lotus pattern is attributed to designer Grete Prytz Kittelsen (1917 – 2010), but there seems to be some doubt as to whether she was the actual designer.

Whoever the designer was, I'm a big fan. And so is MidCenturyMama, she has some great photos of her Cathrineholm collection, here: Cathrineholm lovers