{"product_id":"hand-painted-ceramic-candlestick-with-pink-and-blue-flower-spray-painters-palette-marks-to-the-base-lasting-products-inc-american-c-1955-1975","title":"Hand-Painted Ceramic Candlestick with Pink and Blue Flower Spray, Painter's Palette Marks to the Base, Lasting Products Inc., American, c. 1955–1975","description":"  \u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA short turned candlestick in a soft ivory glaze, built on the classic profile: a wide domed foot, a knopped baluster stem, and a cupped socket with a flared drip pan at the top.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround the foot runs a \u003cstrong\u003ehand-painted flower spray\u003c\/strong\u003e — a pink five-petalled blossom and a rounded cornflower blue one, each with a yellow centre ringed in dark blue dots, set among soft green leaves. Look closely and the petals are individual brush strokes, laid down wet and slightly overlapping, with the pink thinning at the edge of each stroke where the brush lifted.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe foot is finished with a raised bead and a recessed channel, both catching the light.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnderneath, the base is \u003cstrong\u003eunglazed white bisque\u003c\/strong\u003e, and this is where it gets interesting — there is a green dot, two yellow dabs and a pink smear scattered across it, and an oval foil label in red and gold that reads \u003cstrong\u003eHAND PAINTED — LASTING PRODUCTS INC. — MADE IN USA\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThose marks on the base are not damage. They are the decorator's palette.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA painter working a production line loads a brush, and before touching the piece, swipes or dabs it somewhere out of sight to check the colour and how much is on the bristles. The unglazed foot is the natural place: it is porous, it will not wipe clean, and nobody sees it. Every colour on the front of this candlestick is on the bottom of it — green, yellow, pink — which is as direct a piece of evidence as decorated ceramics offers. It is a physical record of the hand that painted it, and it is the reason the label's claim can be taken at face value.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe rest of the evidence agrees.\u003c\/strong\u003e The two flowers on the front are not identical to one another and the spray is not centred with machine precision. The dark blue dots ringing each yellow centre vary in size and spacing. A decal or a transfer would be uniform, would sit slightly proud of the glaze, and would show a fine screen pattern under magnification; none of that is present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe label is the dating evidence.\u003c\/strong\u003e Foil labels of this type — a metallic oval, red ground, gold lettering, small stars — were the giftware trade's standard branding in the middle of the twentieth century, replacing gummed paper and preceding the printed adhesive labels that followed. That it has \u003cstrong\u003esurvived intact\u003c\/strong\u003e is itself informative: the piece was kept and displayed rather than washed, and probably spent most of its life in a cabinet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“MADE IN USA” is a sales argument, not a formality.\u003c\/strong\u003e American giftware potteries printed it largest in exactly the decades when imported hand-painted ware was taking their market, and on a small decorative object it is aimed straight at the shopper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDated on the label type, the American marking and the state of both: \u003cstrong\u003ec. 1955–1975\u003c\/strong\u003e. \u003cem\u003eLasting Products Inc.\u003c\/em\u003e is named on the label; nothing further about the company is asserted here, and the candlestick is offered as marked rather than attributed beyond it.\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;\"\u003eSingle ceramic candlestick for a standard taper\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOrigin\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAmerican. Labelled \u003cem\u003eHAND PAINTED — LASTING PRODUCTS INC. — MADE IN USA\u003c\/em\u003e.\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;\"\u003eDomed circular foot with a raised bead and recessed channel, knopped baluster stem, cupped socket with a flared drip pan; unglazed bisque underside\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDecoration\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHand-painted flower spray to the foot — a pink blossom and a blue blossom, each with a yellow centre ringed in dark blue dots, among green leaves — on an ivory glaze. Individual brush strokes, not a decal or transfer.\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;\"\u003eGlazed ceramic over a white body\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;\"\u003eOval red-and-gold foil maker's label to the base, fully legible; plus the decorator's own palette dabs in green, yellow and pink on the unglazed foot\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;\"\u003ec. 1955–1975. Dated on the metallic foil label type, the American origin marking and the condition of both.\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;\"\u003eExcellent. No chips, no cracks, no crazing, no repairs and no restoration; it stands dead level, the socket is clear and unglazed inside, the rim of the drip pan is complete, and the painting is bright and unfaded with no rubbing to the flowers. The foil label is present and fully readable. \u003cstrong\u003eExpect no wax residue and no burn discolouration in the socket\u003c\/strong\u003e — it has been little used, if at all — along with light grey scuffing to the unglazed foot from standing, which is normal and does not show when the piece is upright. 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\u003eA single low candlestick is one of the most useful small objects there is, precisely because it is short.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA tall one blocks a face across a table. This one lights a dinner without getting in the way of it, and it works just as well on a bathroom shelf, a bedside table, a windowsill, a mantel, a desk or a bookshelf. It takes a standard taper and stands level, so it does not need a plate under it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe palette is the reason it travels. Ivory, pink, cornflower blue, soft green and yellow are the colours of a cottage kitchen and of a chintz bedroom both, and they sit happily on painted wood, brown furniture, marble, a stack of books, or a shelf of white china.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is also a good gift — small, cheerful, unbreakably easy to like — and it comes with a story worth passing on, which is that you can turn it over and see the actual paint the decorator tested before she painted the flowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on care, and the first point is the one that saves most candlesticks. \u003cstrong\u003eNever dig hardened wax out with a knife.\u003c\/strong\u003e Put the candlestick in the freezer for half an hour and the wax shrinks and lifts out whole; anything sharper takes the glaze with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWash it by hand in warm water with a little mild soap. \u003cstrong\u003eNo dishwasher\u003c\/strong\u003e — heat and detergent will lift the foil label off the base within one cycle, and the label is part of what this piece is. Keep the unglazed foot out of standing water, since bare bisque absorbs and stains.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUse no abrasive pad, no scouring cream and no bleach on the painted area. Burn tapers that fit the socket snugly rather than wedging an oversized one in, never let a candle burn down into the socket, and keep it away from a draught so the flame does not lick the rim.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48040938864745,"sku":"VE-0704","price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_2019.jpg?v=1789130912","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/hand-painted-ceramic-candlestick-with-pink-and-blue-flower-spray-painters-palette-marks-to-the-base-lasting-products-inc-american-c-1955-1975","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}