Neo Victorian Hand Sculpted Belle Epoque Captive Bulb Vase by Michael W. Moses

 Today I am featuring a brand new work of ceramic art pottery that I call, the "Belle Epoque Captive Bulb Vase"  This is a piece that I can describe as being Neo Victorian.  This pieces is completely modern in manufacture and coloring, but has all of the exuberant qualities that also make it a high Victorian design. This type of work is so reminiscent of the lavish over the top creations that were being produced during the period that the French refer to as the Belle Epoque Era (1871-1914).

 

 This one of a kind hand modeled work of ceramic art pottery comprises 4 distinct pieces that I have assembled together into one bold artistic statement. I started out with a really great circa 1910 hand etched glass sugar bowl. I then made a small root system shaped bowl that fits into the bottom of the sugar bowl, Then hand sculpted a bulb vase to fit into the sugar bowl, over top of the small root shaped bowl to create a small covered box like area. I then perched a lively little alien creature upon the side of the bulb vase. Once it had been fired, I meticulously painted all the details, glazed, then refired.  I added a vintage silver tone costume jewelry quality chain and two vintage red aurora borealis rhinestones for the happy little creatures eyes.

The Belle Epoque Captive Bulb Vase is basically a hand sculpted bulb vase that one can use for flowers and that has a small place where one can hide a ring, a few gold coins, or a small precious note. That is attached to a beautiful antique sugar bowl with a chain.

Just to let you know, if you do not know, The chain is added to keep the bulb vase with its sugar bowl home.  These bulb vases can get a little on the wild side sometimes and one will need to keep it chained so that it does not escape into the wild.

An image of what it looked like just after I had pained it and just before it was glazed.




 This work is available

Michael W. Moses Ceramic Art Pottery Octopus Bowl and Cpative Bulb Vase...Sold

Yesterday I sold two pieces of my ceramic art pottery.  I sold my large octopus bowl, that was based upon ancient Greek Minoan culture pottery pieces. The Minoan civilization was closely connected with the sea and much of the Minoan pottery had images that related to to sea based motifs. My bowl  was fashioned with a small barnacle on the side that has a spot wore through the glaze on the inside of the bowl and it has a small white bisque ceramic ball that is fired in place and freely rattles around loose inside the barnacle..

Octopus Bowl by Michael W. Moses

Octopus Bowl by Michael W. Moses Side View

I also sold the piece "Orange Captive Bulb Vase" that I featured in my Sunday, December 11, 2011 post.

Booth works were purchased by a very nice couple that does historic style photography nation wide in their own mobile studio. Now how cool is that traveling around the country in a mobile photography studio and taking photographs of people dressed in historic Victorian style clothing.  They have purchased some of my pieces in the past and wanted to add these two works to their growing collection. 

Orange Captive Bulb Vase Out of Cup by M. W. Moses

Orange Captive Bulb Vase In Cup by M. W. Moses 

  

Queen's Tears Bromeliad Billbergia Nutans in Green Blue Dotted Bulb Vase by Michael W. Moses

The other day I noticed that my Queen's Tears Bromeliad (Billbergia Nutans) is in bloom once more so I clipped three off and put them in one of my ceramic art pottery vases. This particular Green Blue Dotted Bulb Vase is a favorite of mine. It is just perfect for displaying so many different flowers. I was so pleased with the over all effect from this arrangement that I took my camera and fired off a few shots. This is one that I particularly liked.  The colors of the flowers make it look as of I had specifically chosen these colors to match the flowers.

I featured this same vase on my May 31, 2011 blog post showing it with a totally different type of flower.

This vase and the Queen's Tears blossoms are currently on display at our main counter at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS.  They will be in bloom (with any luck) for about the next three or four days, so if you are in the area stop by and have a look at them up close and in person.

Prints of this image available.

Finished Orange Captive Bulb Vase by Michael W. Moses at South Coast Antiques in Ocean Springs

Orange Captive Bulb Vase in Heinrich & Co Cup 

This is my latest piece of ceramic art pottery. I call this one "Orange Captive Bulb Vase"  I showed what it looked like when it was just painted, before being glazed and fired in my Friday, November 18, 2011 post.
I was very pleased at how this little fellow looked when it came out of  the kiln. The colors are absolutely vibrant! It just sets and glows in its own garish brightness.
When I was photographing this piece which I do it in our shop, South Coast Antiques, I had a customer come in and they were watching me doing the photography. She says to me."Why is that vase chained to a cup"?  I very quickly responded, "Because it is so wild that it would escape if it were not chained to the cup"! She looked at me and says, "Oh, well that makes sense". It really makes me wonder when people say things like that to me what they are actually thinking.

Orange Captive Bulb Vase Out of It's Cup

 This bulb is chained to a really nice, absolutely paper thin porcelain tea cup. The cup has a great intricate hand painted Greek key design going around the lip and is an antique that was made by Heinrich & Co of  Selb, Bavaria in the early 1900's.

Orange Captive Bulb Vase From Top

Orange Captive Bulb Vase Before Being Chained to Cup

Dotted Blue Bulb Vase by Michael W. Moses SOLD today at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

This afternoon we sold one of my bulb vases. This one is called the "Dotted Blue Bulb Vase". It was purchased by a man and woman from Biloxi that were getting it for a Christmas gift for their daughter in California. This little bulb vase has so much lively movement that it just seems as if it will run away at any moment, but it's created to be stable and support one long thin blossom with maybe a small leaf or two on it. Imagine a brightly colored tulip, a long stemmed spider lilly, or even a single orchid sprouting from it's bulbous body. But in my opinion a flower is not even necessary to make this work of art a stand out piece in any room.

The Finished Dotted Blue Bulb Vase

The Greenware Stage

Newest Bulb Vase by Michael W. Moses SOLD at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Well, this one did not last long at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS!
It's about to be boxed and sent off to it's new home in Virginia! I must admit that I really was pleased with the way the colors came out on this piece of ceramic art pottery. The colors really seem to pop and give a truly vibrant character to this lively one of a kind vase.

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 Here  is what it looked like after the first firing.

The bisque stage.

After I have meticulously painted it, before I added the dots

on the roots and before being glazed.

After a coat of glaze over the paint and the second firing.

Triple Bulb Vase, Ceramic Art Pottery with Flowers by Michael W. Moses at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

This is an image that I took this morning of a triple bulb vase that I did a while back. This vase is sporting a lovely cluster of flowers. I have no idea as to what these flowers are called, but they have nicely shaped leaves and very attractive flowers that seem to just work so well with this vase. If anyone knows what these flowers are please tell me. This one of a kind piece of ceramic art pottery is currently available at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS.

My student Tyler Gibson's First Piece of Art Pottery

My student Tyler has just finished his very first piece of art pottery!  I am about as proud as one can be about it.  His finished work really shows a spark of ability that has me excited to see what his future works will be like. I will be posting more of his works in the near future.

Tyler Gibson's first completed ceramic art pottery piece is a hand modeled bulb type vase.

IMHO, It's just beautiful!

Yellow Bulb Vase with Azalea Flowers by Michael W. Moses

This is an image that I took the other day, it features one of my nice bright yellow and blue bulb vases. This one is jauntily displaying a small bouquet of rather large red  azalea flowers. I have used one of my paintings that I did back in the early 1990's as a background.

This is a new work that I call the "Thermal Vent Red Pod Vase". It is in glowing fiery tones of red and orange. The inside and the little round holes in the sides are glazed in a deep brownish shiny, lustrous glaze.