Twin Bird, Japan. Retro home bar accessories. 1970s

If you're lucky enough to have a home bar, and your home bar is styled in a retro theme, then here's the very thing for you.

A fabulously retro water jug and matching ice bucket. The metal jug and ice bucket have semi-transparent lids, plastic liners for double insulation and are in a bright lime green colour. The ice bucket is marked Twin Bird on the base. Probably made in Japan in the 1970s, these two eye-catching home bar accessories would look great next to a bowl of lemons and limes.

In fact, they look so good, I'm off to build my own bar right now. Cheers.

PS We've opened a little shop on Etsy. You can see it here: Potshots on Etsy 

Frozen Daiquiri, anyone?

Wow. They really knew how to illustrate books in 1967. Well, John Alstrop and Eric Hill did anyway.

Published by Determined Productions Inc, San Francisco, in 1967, Booze is an amazing little illustrated book of some fifty-odd cocktail recipes. I've no way of knowing if the two designer/illustrators sampled any (or all!) of the cocktails before putting their colourful pens to paper, but they certainly didn't hold back. The pages are filled with vibrant and humorous images in a wonderfully typical 1960s psychedelic style.

It's a lovely little book. And goes quite well with a quirky little drinks tray we found recently which probably dates from the same era.

Cheers.

An abstract serving on this vintage platter. Poole Delphis.

A platter with such a generous serving of abstract design. This vibrant charger is full of fun and full of colour. It's from the Poole Delphis range and was probably made in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The pointed shape is known as shape 91. Unfortunately the plate is not signed so I'm not sure who the artist was - which is a shame because such an expressive technique deserves recognition.

An interesting and eye catching plate, for sure.

Mdina bottle vase and stopper.

Some time ago I did a blogpost on a couple of Mdina vases. Remember this: Mdina vases

I said then that I'd try to show some more Mdina. Well, better late than never.

This Mdina bottle vase and stopper has been in the Potshots collection for a quite a while now so, as I was photographing some items of glassware the other day, I decided to do a quick shot of it for the blog-site. I'm glad I did because the shot turned out quite well. It's probably because the colours in the glass are so good and the shape is so well proportioned. I specially like the flattened out top on the neck of the vase. And those swirls of colour in the body of the glass.

I would guess the vase dates from the 1970s.

Three Scheurich retro winter warmers

 

Something to add a bit of warmth to a winter day.

There are Dancing flames, fire-red colours and bubbling lava flows on these vintage West German vases.

I have an idea they are all by Scheurich and they probably date from the 1960s or 1970s. Grouped together, they certainly help to warm up a retro-styled interior.

There seems a lot more information available on West German pottery these days - and some very keen collectors. There are some amazing images and lots of good info on one of my favourite blogs, here: Blurat West German pottery

Colourful and sculptural. 1970s Carltonware.

Back to the pottery. And what better way than with a zing of colour from the 1970s.

These artful creations are by Carltonware and they probably date from the 1970s. In Acid green, lemon yellow and bright red, this tableware looks wonderfully sculptural with those stacked ring shapes. There are two vinegar or oil bottles, the small red item is a candle holder, the round top item is a pepper pot and the tallest pot is a vase.

Even if you didn't want to use them on a table setting, I think they look so good together as a group, you could simply put them out on display and enjoy them as little works of art.

Italian lamp bases. This Bitossi pair will soon to see the light.

I suppose it's criminal of me not to be using these smart Italian lamp bases. Both have fittings and are fully wired – they just need a plug and a suitable shade and they'd be ready to go. It's a shame not use them so I promise to get that done soon.

The lamp bases are a couple more examples of vintage Bitossi pottery from circa 1960s or 1970s. As regular visitors will already know, like a moth to light, I seem to be helplessly attracted to cylinder shaped pottery – remember this: Cylinder vases

The Bitossi factory is probably more associated with the Rimini Blue pottery but they also made some fabulous items in reds, yellows, oranges and other colours. The orange and brown lamp base shown here has the characteristic bands of impressed motifs that are used on the Rimini Blue range and that give such a wonderful surface texture.

Rainbow cruets from the 1960s.

I recently did a couple of blogposts featuring Hornsea Rainbow pottery from the early 1960s. One of the items was a rather smart cruet set. Remember this: Rainbow cruet

The salt and pepper pots shown in that blogpost were in the Roulette shape – one from a range of five different shapes. So just to complete the Rainbow cruet story, here are the other four shapes made. I think the names are, from left to right:

Top row, Cone, Crinoline
Bottom row, Globe, Parasol

And just to remind you, the set shown below is in the Roulette shape.

Murano faceted vases c.1970s.

Italy again. This time in the form of some crisp glassware.

These vibrant, geometric vases are from Murano. They are probably by the Mandruzzato glass works and I think they were made in the early 1970s. Eye-catching they are too, with cased layers of red, gold and clear glass. The polished, faceted surfaces give a cold, hard feel and an ultra-modern look of purity.

Although Murano faceted vases were made in various colours, I particularly like these bright red examples.

There's lots more information on faceted glassware (and other 20th Century glass) here: Mandruzzato glass

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.

Sienna by Jessie Tait, 1960s

Some more examples of transfer printed pottery from the Midwinter range.

This graphic, three-colour pattern is Sienna. Designed in the 1960s by Jessie Tait, it features slabs of colour in greenish ochre and orange overlaid with a fine lattice of black linework. 

In 1962 Midwinter introduced the Fine shape for dinnerware. Sienna was one of the first designs to be used on the new shape. The pattern proved to be very popular and was still in production up to 1978. 

As there were so many items made, Sienna is not a particularly rare design – even so, it's still one of my favourites.

More on Jessie Tait here: Jessie Tait  and here: Jessie Tait collector

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.

Multicoloured slipware from 1961

More slip decorated pottery, and more Hornsea Pottery. (I promise to find some non- Hornsea pottery to show you after these).

These funky vases feature a whirly, swirly design in bands of contrasting colours. Known (for obvious reasons) as multicoloured slipware vases, they were made by Hornsea in 1961.

I think there were four vases produced in this range with slight variations in size and shape. I like them because as a result of the hand-made application of the design, each pot is unique, an individual creation, and no two pots are alike.

OK, no more Hornsea for a while.

Hornsea Rainbow salt and peper set. 1960s

More Hornsea Pottery from the Rainbow range. Again made between 1961 and 1963, this is a salt and pepper set. I think there were five different shapes of Rainbow salt and pepper sets and I have a feeling that this shape was called Roulette. If I find any more of the shapes, I'll let you know.

A Rainbow for Summer, 1960s style.

Although only small - the largest is only three and a half inches (9cm) high - these mini vases are certainly big on 1960s style.

Made by Hornsea Pottery between 1961 and 1963, these colourful little pots are from the Rainbow range. The fluted yellow bodies are decorated in hand applied horizontal bands in black, red, grey and pale blue.

I particularly like the shape of the two vases shown in the close-up photos, they seem to have a sort of Japanese feel about them.

Perhaps the bright yellow colour would be a bit tricky to fit into today's colour schemes, but a display of Rainbow pots wouldn't half add a splash of colour to a room.

Carlton Ware cat money box.

My last blogpost featured a cute pottery dog, the one before that an elegant Tigris cat, so to keep the theme going here's another cat.

This time the cat is in the form of a pottery money box. Made by Carlton Ware (or is that Carltonware?), I would guess in the early 1970s, I think the money box is from a range designed by Vivienne Brennan.

The bold illustration on this money box is in bright red and orange. I've seen examples of the same money box in different colour schemes.

There are some more good images of Carlton Ware money boxes from the 1970s on Pips Trip, here: Carlton Ware on Pips Trip

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