A (not so) Little Vase
Posted: December 23rd, 2011 | Author: alison | Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Last week at the thriftstore we found a rather humble vase. It was a little lopsided and I wasn’t sure we should bring it home, even though Mr. Butter–our resident glass expert–turned it over and found a signature. Littleton 1962. So we took our vase home and decided to do more research, because even though the vase was signed Littleton, there was no way it could actually be made by Harvey Littleton, right?
After a bit of research and some help from our friends on Twitter, we found another example of his signature on one of his more experimental pieces from 1976, which looked very similar to the one on our vase. Even more intriguing was the photograph we found from a glass enthusiast who attended a Penland workshop and got to meet Littleton himself. During the workshop, she took a photo of Littleton’s first vase, and it bears a striking resemblance to our vase in form and in color.
We’ve emailed a few experts in the field and everyone has told us to get our piece authenticated by Maureen Littleton, who owns a gallery in Washington D.C. Cross your fingers that we get some good news!
My fingers are crossed indeed!!
Very exciting. I just read the Wikipedia page on Littleton, amazing. Such beautiful work. And wow, to be in touch with his daughter in DC for her to authenticate the work. Sooo amazing! Keep up all posted!
Oh boy… The things people give away to the thrift store! Aren’t you glad it didn’t get nicked or smashed while sitting on the shelves getting handled like a $2 vase?
Wow wow wow!! What an amazing find and I’m so glad you’ve been able to track down some willing people for authentication… I have not been so lucky for some of my finds. You guys have had an amazing thrift year!
It’s a very pretty, yet unassuming, not so little find. I love how Thrift Haul posts have me look at things I’d normal skip at thrifts in a new light. They help me develop hunting skills