Posted 9 years ago
cshapiro
(177 items)
These vases are special to me because they were rescued. I went to an estate sale around the corner from my house where the gentleman had passed away and the family was handling the sale.
The man had traveled to China a great deal and had some very wonderful antiques. Unfortunately most were gone by the time I got there, or you can bet I would have bought the lot.
I bought the pair of these for $15 which was the price listed on them, and remember the daughter saying "I can't believe anybody would want those cheap plastic vases, we were going to throw them away but at the last minute decided to put a cheap price on them." Very sad that she was so ignorant of what she had.
Although they aren't terribly old (probably early to mid century), they are original carved cinnabar vases (I have verified under a loupe), and I'm so happy to have saved them from the trash.
I proudly display my "cheap plastic vases" in my home.
They are quite pretty. Probably made for export since "CHINA" is written in English on the base.
A side note: cinnabar is toxic.
http://geology.com/minerals/cinnabar.shtml
"What is Cinnabar?
Cinnabar is a toxic mercury sulfide mineral with a chemical composition of HgS. It is the only important ore of mercury. It has a bright red color that has caused people to use it as a pigment and carve it into jewelry and ornaments for thousands of years in many parts of the world. Because it is toxic, its pigment and jewelry uses have almost been discontinued."
A lovely pair
Thanks very much master