{"product_id":"blue-satin-glazed-pottery-baby-bootie-vase-moulded-knit-with-tasselled-cord-and-beaded-cuff-inscribed-from-otto-1935-to-the-base-1935","title":"Blue Satin-Glazed Pottery Baby Bootie Vase, Moulded Knit with Tasselled Cord and Beaded Cuff, Inscribed “From Otto 1935” to the Base, 1935","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA small pottery baby's bootie, modelled as a soft ankle boot and open at the top to hold flowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe modelling is detailed for its size. The upper carries a \u003cstrong\u003eknitted texture\u003c\/strong\u003e — fine vertical ribs running down from the ankle, with a pebbled stitch across the toe. Around the top runs a \u003cstrong\u003erolled cuff\u003c\/strong\u003e edged with a band of small beaded circles, and across the instep a \u003cstrong\u003ecord is tied in a bow with two hanging tassels\u003c\/strong\u003e, each tassel modelled separately and standing clear of the surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe glaze is a \u003cstrong\u003esoft satin medium blue\u003c\/strong\u003e — matte rather than glossy, even and quiet, without a shine on it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe base is \u003cstrong\u003eunglazed, flat and dry\u003c\/strong\u003e, and it carries a \u003cstrong\u003ehand-written inscription\u003c\/strong\u003e: a name and a year, \u003cstrong\u003eFrom Otto — 1935\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis piece tells you its own date, which is rare, and worth leading with.\u003c\/strong\u003e The inscription is on the underside, written by hand onto the porous unglazed clay rather than printed or stamped, and it gives both a giver and a year. That is not decoration. That is somebody recording the occasion on the object itself, the way people wrote in the front of a bible or the back of a photograph.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e1935 is a pointed year for a baby's shoe to be turned into an ornament, because the idea was brand new.\u003c\/strong\u003e In the early 1930s a woman named \u003cstrong\u003eViolet Shinbach\u003c\/strong\u003e saw a pair of bronzed baby shoes while shopping in Cleveland, Ohio. She had her own bronzed, showed them to friends, understood what she was looking at, and in \u003cstrong\u003e1934\u003c\/strong\u003e founded the Bron-Shoe Company to sell the idea. It worked: the company has since bronzed \u003cstrong\u003emore than fourteen million shoes\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSo the keepsake baby shoe was roughly a year old as a commercial idea when this was given.\u003c\/strong\u003e Before that, a first pair of shoes was handed down, worn out or thrown out. After it, a shoe became a thing you kept on a shelf. A pottery bootie does exactly the same work as a bronzed one, at a fraction of the price, and it holds flowers besides — which is why potteries made them by the thousand for the next thirty years, and why 1935 sits at the front of that run rather than in the middle of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe mould was fresh.\u003c\/strong\u003e The beaded band round the cuff is crisp circle by circle, the knit ribs are sharp all the way to the toe, and the two tassels are fully modelled and undercut rather than softened into the body — all of which goes first as a mould is worked, so this came out of one early in its life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is \u003cstrong\u003eno maker's mark, backstamp, impressed number or country-of-origin stamp\u003c\/strong\u003e on the base, and the piece is offered \u003cstrong\u003eunattributed\u003c\/strong\u003e. Dated at \u003cstrong\u003e1935\u003c\/strong\u003e on the inscription itself, supported by the satin glaze and the unmarked base, both of which are consistent with small-pottery production of that period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ePottery baby bootie vase — a small figural vase or planter modelled as an infant's knitted boot. Approx. 2½ in high, 3½ in long and 2 in wide.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMoulded ankle boot with a rolled cuff edged in beaded circles, ribbed and pebbled knit texture to the upper, and a tied cord with two fully modelled hanging tassels across the instep; open at the top as a vase\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMoulded ceramic in a soft satin blue glaze, matte rather than glossy, with an unglazed base\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eNo maker's mark, backstamp or country-of-origin stamp. Hand-written inscription to the unglazed base reading \u003cem\u003eFrom Otto\u003c\/em\u003e over \u003cem\u003e1935\u003c\/em\u003e. Offered unattributed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003e1935. Dated on the hand-written inscription carried by the piece itself, supported by the satin glaze and unmarked base.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGood, with one noted fault. \u003cstrong\u003eThere is a chip to the rim of the opening at the back\u003c\/strong\u003e, roughly ½ in across, through the glaze and into the body, with bare clay showing; it is stable, with no crack running out of it, and it sits out of sight from the front. Otherwise the piece is sound — no other chips, no cracks, no repairs and no restoration; it stands level, the tassels and cuff are complete and undamaged, the modelling is crisp and the glaze is even with only light shelf wear. The inscription is legible. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn object with a date written on it is a different thing from an object without one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlmost everything on an antique shelf is dated by someone's judgement — by a mark, a method, a glaze, a construction detail. This one was dated by the person who gave it, in pencil, at the time. You are not being asked to take anyone's word for the year. You can turn it over and read it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is also a very good small vase, which is the harder thing to find. The opening is narrow enough to hold three or four short stems upright without a frog, and the proportions suit the flowers that come at the right scale anyway: violets, sweet peas, lily of the valley, grape hyacinth, a single rose head, a sprig of herbs off a windowsill.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEmpty, it works as a catch-all. A ring dish by a sink, paper clips on a desk, stamps, a single pen, matches by a candle. The soft blue is an easy colour against white, cream, wood and brass, and the scale means it can sit on a narrow shelf, a windowsill, a bedside table or the corner of a mantel without asking for room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd it gives well. A nursery, a christening, a first birthday, a baby shower, a grandparent — it is a ninety-year-old object about the arrival of a child, with somebody's name on the bottom, and it costs less than a bunch of flowers to give.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on care. \u003cstrong\u003eThe base is unglazed and porous\u003c\/strong\u003e, so it will mark a polished surface if it stands there wet. Use it with a small glass or vial inside for fresh flowers, or stand it on a felt pad or a coaster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo not put it in a dishwasher\u003c\/strong\u003e, and do not soak it — water goes into the unglazed base and into the chipped area and takes a long time to come back out. Wipe it with a barely damp cloth and dry it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHandle it by the body rather than the cuff or the tassels, which are the thinnest and most exposed parts, and set it where it will not get knocked; the existing chip is stable, but a rim that has been broken once is the rim that breaks again.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48044862505065,"sku":"VE-0722","price":68.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_2165.jpg?v=1789190583","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/blue-satin-glazed-pottery-baby-bootie-vase-moulded-knit-with-tasselled-cord-and-beaded-cuff-inscribed-from-otto-1935-to-the-base-1935","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}