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Vintage Fiesta Bud Vase

The fiesta bud vase looks like another shape that was already being made at another company that was borrowed by pottery designer Frederick Rhead. We already know he borred the relish tray from a Japanese import and the nut dishes as well. The bud vase looks very similar to a Van Briggle Art Pottery Company piece that was already being made. But immitation is the greatest form of flattery and all is far in love and war. The fiesta bud vase would have been slip cast in a mold and the mold seams can sometimes still be seen as these would have had to have been smoothed down by hand at a factory by individual workers. It is interesting to note that the bud vase was part of the original fiestaware pottery line and the 8, 10 and 12 inch flower vases were added a few months later.

Still being made today in the original molds, so be carefull with picking these up cheap - post 1986 ones will look so much like the originals. Remember, number or letter stamps in the base of the pottery is a pre-1986 mark that was used as a quality control measure, so if you have pieces with numbers or letters, rest assured that they are vintage, except for the large in the mold raised letter "H" which Homer Laughlin started to use on the newer pieces to distinguish them from the old.

Dimensions

Bud vases measure 6 1/4" tall by 1 1/2" across the top and are wider at the base which measures just shy of 3".

Marks

Marked in the mold with the impressed HL (Homer Laughlin icon) folled by "fiesta MADE IN U.S.A."

Years of production

Circa 1936-1946: Made in the first six original colors only. Red discontinued by the end of 1942.