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[Oznell]

Just as a spectator sport, I love vases, and pottery of all kinds.  They represent both 3 D sculpture to me, and opportunity for 'amping up' whatevery accent color or neutral you want in the room.

While perusing,  I noticed this pleasant, splashy vessel below-- kindly glance at the price at the bottom of the image--   EEK! 

I know that there are customers who do pay these prices for ceramics, but to me it's unimaginable.  Especially for something that can break?  Purist collectors of one-of-a-kind porcelains clearly don't agree with me, and if they have the means, of course it's their choice.

Still, I love the look of vases, and think you can find reasonably priced, acceptable-to-excellent quality in lots of places-- thrift stores, antique shops, garage sales, flea markets, importers,  even some big box stores. 

Love to see what's out there!   A number of the examples below are in the $40 and under category, and some, are less.   Ideas for wedding presents!

"Creative Co-op",  a company available on Amazon, is known for their interesting goods.  I love this weathered pitcher/vase--

  Another, for those who like a variation on "blue and white"--  faded blue and cream:

 

For those who like neutral accessories, or 'mixed media', with the banana leaf fiber-wrapped neck--

Big Lots is a surprising source-- at times-- for modern, interesting wares.  This vase has a stylish, almost witty, post-Modern look, with its deliberately wavy lines.  Extremely affordable, and comes in two sizes--

Surprisingly, the Q's ceramic offerings are often more pricey than some other sources.  Valerie's more recent line of illuminated ginger jars, however, are under $40, and they showed how they can easily be turned into vases by removing lid, putting a glass liner cylinder inside, to hold water and flowers:

I also mentioned the Belleek offerings of QVC in another thread, and this 10 inch "Field of Shamrocks" vase they have is darling and about $37:

  

One of the first things I started collecting as a young person, was art pottery from the 1930's and Forties.  You can find it very inexpensively at resale shops, yard sales, antique stores.

I never had much, and have purged down to a select few, but love the retro look they give.

Scott, the Old Curiosity Shop online guy, is a professional thrifter and seller who comes across many fun vintage examples.  

There was even an Eighties' revival of early Art Deco vases, and those are inexpensive, fun and decorative too, with their pleats and swirls:

Wayfair is a retailer that carries interesting vases, and you can often get pairs.  Two vases of the same type, but sometimes different sizes, gives a room such a cohesive look:

Ginger and spice jars are often well-priced, in non-traditional motifs--

For those who like traditional, and a neutral, creamy palette, look no farther than discontinued Lenox vases.  My local antique store has a whole table of them, each in the $20 range.  They're plentiful online too.  They are so versatile:

Love this organic "Woodland" one:

And this "Athenian", classically distinctive:

I personally lean a little more to ceramics, but glass has such possibilities too, especially to introduce jewel-like color:

Modern:

Or, antique satin glass:

You have to hunt and be discerning, but, returning to Amazon,  certain well-priced lines like Teresa's Collections often have little gems, like this earthy, textured, pottery look.

And I was suprised to see this versatile threesome below,  ( the tallest is a good 11 inches) at $29,  but with a 50% off coupon.  Good deal.

Clearly, could go on forever.   If you love ceramics and glass, what are your favorites?   Preferred colors and styles?   If you do purchase or collect, what is your best buy ever, and how do you use it in your house.  Love to hear stories.     

[Desert Lily]

I love vases! And I love all kinds of vases. I have 35-40 vases. I have art glass vases, pottery vases, porcelain vases, cut crystal vases, antique vases, & more.

One of my favorites is an antique clear hand-blown glass vase that gracefully stands 38" tall & has ruffling at the top. Another favorite is a lustre in triple overlay with green glass that is just like the ones on the mantle in I Love Lucy. 

I have an antique vase I bought at an auction 35 years ago that has layers & swirls similar to millefiori and handles. One of the art glass vases is 24" tall with a luminescence and another is 14" that's turquoise/cobalt and resembles a slab of swirled glass.

I have 2 temple jars in chinoiserie blue & white patterns. There's 1 vase that has 24 kt gold inside layers of clear glass and a gray porcelain vase with a blue & white 3D porcelain flower affixed to it. One vase is a fan shape in a butterscotch color and has small 3D flower petals on the front.

In cut crystal, I have bud vases, med., & large vases in clear, blue, & green. A unique favorite I have is an antique crystal candleabra that has 2 glass extra arms that hold 2 delicate ruffled-top glass vases.

There are many more that I haven't mentioned.

Yup, I love vases!!

[Imaoldhippie]

I lie them all, they are attractive, I especially like the first one.

[DSD2]

What beautiful vases @Oznell 

Love the Belleek Shamrocks vase. I also am a Lenox fan and the "Woodlands" vase with its neutral color is right up my alley.

I have a very large Waterford vase that I was gifted when I married 40 years ago. It's beautiful but a bit overwhelming for my rather small home. I prefer the Waterford rose bowl that I have.

How fortunate you are to be near a shop that sells these lovely measures. I would be a fixture there...

[jubilant]

I love vases, too. I have only one that cost me more than I would nomally pay. I bought it on Etsy from a dealer from Netherlands who had two of them. The other one is still there but this year is almost $300....that's without overseas shipping! I paid $109. for mine including shipping and handling. It is sooooo pretty.

It stands 15" tall if measured to round rim. NEVER have I spent that much before on a  vase and probably never will again....but I love it! It looks prettier in person and bigger then this picture.

[Enufstuff]

@Oznell  What a lovely post, with so many pretty vases.

             I especially like the antique pink satin glass pair. They would be perfect in my aqua and pink bedroom. I also like the two Lenox vases.

I do have an assortment of vases that I've collected over the years. I have posted pictures of my Egyptian alabaster vases,

that are on the mantle in my living room.

I have a couple of Belleek vases that I purchased on the Q, when they were presented on St. Patrick's Day shows.

There are Fiesta vases in bud size and full size, in yellow, turquoise and persimmon.

I also have a few Fenton vases. The one in my bedroom is pink, in a Jack-in -the-pulpit style. One is a gorgeous teal with hand painted white flowers and another one the color is a little difficult to describe.

It is from the Fenton Heirloom Optics collection. The base color is a dark red with an art glass finish, that reminds me of old carnival glass, or Tiffany art glass.

It has a satiny irridescent finish with blue, green, a soft gold and a hard to describe violet, pinkish, reddish

color. Sort of like a rainbow of the colors that you see on an oil slick. The effect is soft, not garish.

 On top of that are handpainted soft white wisteria with green leaves.

Then I have a collection of cobalt blue vases. The last one I got in Italy, when we visited the Island of Murano. It is only about

six inches tall, cobalt blue glass with hand painted trim in gold.

Of course I have a small collection of plain clear glass vases in various sizes. The last vase is an eight inch ivory cylinder shaped vase with a lustre ware finish. That looks like a shiny irridescent finish with soft pastel colors.

  I just remembered a collection of Japanese Satsuma faience pottery that I collected in the 70s and is now packed away.

They were made in the early 1920's. The largest vase is probably16" tall. It is hand painted in a matte brown, it has raised enamel designs and figures of deities with lots of gold on it.

The unique feature of this piece is that it has molded onto the front, a gold figure of an elephant with lots of detail and

dimension. I also have smaller vases in the satsuma collection.

My most treasured piece is not really a vase. It is piece of Roseville art pottery in the Blackberry pattern. It is a four inch tall jardineire that belonged to my mother in law. Her mother in law gave it to her in 1934.

Oops!  I just discovered two more vases that have seemed to blend in with the background, after 40 years in my living room. One is 20" tall and the othe 10" tall.

They are a rustic pottery and were not expensive. I bought them when I was going through my all Egyptian phase and my

living room looked like an Egyptian museum.

They are in the shape of what you see in traditional style of Egyptian vases and amphorae. They are a sort of tannish, greyish, with a slight bit of green on top, like old Egyptian faience pottery. The design patterns are done in a sgraffito design.

I found them at a Christmas Tree Shop and they looked so Egyptian to me. I used to go to a marsh near my house and cut

some tall plants that looked like papyrus, for my tall vase.

[Enufstuff]

@Desert Lily   You have a vast and gorgeous collection.

                     And, I thought that I had enufstuff!

   I really do have too much of everything and most of it is packed away. I have been giving some things to children.

They can have a nice estate sale, when I'm gone.

[Jersey Born]

@Oznell - As someone who has taken many different Art classes over the years for many different kinds of Art (oil painting, watercolor painting, sketching, ceramics, rock sculpture), I can say that I appreciate vases. 

I had a ceramics instructor named Tom Neugebauer (with a website, as I have just found it online - called Artful Home) who was so very talented. He could whip up a vase with incredible speed on the wheel in about 10 minutes. Every piece he made was seemingly so easy for him to make, but I know it came from years of practice and dedication to the craft. I used to joke in his class, and outside of his class, that if I ever decided for my remains to be cremated, I would want my ashes to be placed in one of his vases. (Morbid, I know. --But truthful.) Back when I took his class, he used incredible Raku glazes on his vases that produced a shiny, colorful metallic finish with the rainbow colors you sometimes see in a puddle of oil on an asphalt road. I so love seeing color in artwork of any kind.

One day, decades ago, I went with my mother to her podiatrist. Guess what I saw in the hallway, near the exam room, on a pedestal? An unmistakable, Tom Neugebauer vase. I told the MD that I recognized the artist, and he was floored, amazed, and tickled that I knew the artist's name! It was such a delightful experience!

I took a peak at the vases on his website, and Mr. Neugebauer's vases are far more reasonably priced than the blue and white vase in the image you posted. I may just purchase one of his. Thanks for bringing those old memories back to me, @Oznell. 

[Jersey Born]

@Oznell - My bad. He has his own website at ___ __________ (his name) dot com. The other website just features his work along with other artists. 

[twinsister]

I love vases and have so many in different sizes, shapes, colors, etc.   There are times when I have to stop myself from buying more because I have too much.  I do put some away and rotate them according to season or just wanting to refresh a room. 

Many years ago I was gifted the Lenox Woodland vase and it's been in use since I received it.  There are also some crystal vases I inherited from family members. I have a Murano venetian glass vase I bought in Venice years ago. It is multi-colored with gold trim.

My current favorite vase is one I just bought from Amazon - Ertuna Rustic Farmhouse Vase in black.  It is not a matte black, but has an almost chalky finish over it with tiny flecks of terracotta.  Love it and was only $26.99.