Pittwater Online News

Bud vases or single stem vases have become a chic collectors items with various stem shapes and base shape forms and colours being bought or made by a simple addition of food colouring to water, or even with single flowers therein in 10-20 of them, and then arranged together to form permanent and artistic corners in many homes. A uniformity in roundness or tall sleekness emphasises the movable sculpture quality of these collections. Bud vases made of glass work best to create a coloured rainbow. These vases may also be made from ceramics, crystal, plastics or tightly weaved organic products with the colour range or uniformity coming from the single flowers arranged in them. They may be sculptural, arranged alone or together to create something new that draws the eyes. Some have even drilled holes in slabs of wood large enough to hold a row of test tubes.

Porcelains and ceramics were first invented in China. As this culture is also home to one of the first flowers when found in 2002 in north-eastern China, and dating from 124 million years ago (Archaefructus liaoningensis and Archaefructus sinensis), it seems reasonable that this land, so old and steeped in an appreciation of beauty and elegance, would have created vessels to provide water and to display sprigs of delicate blooms or solitary stems of a single bloom. Peony’s, symbolising prosperity, and the Chinese plum blossom, symbolising an indomitable spirit, as well as bamboo (the sage) and the lotus (divine), have featured in paintings and on pottery from ancient times in Chinese culture.

A bud vase is small and designed to hold several tiny flowers, especially young flowers and buds. They are often used to make dainty arrangements of young flowers in the early spring or to bring the perfume of a few flowers to a stale small corner. Classically they are were used to showcase a single rose. Some florists will supply these, complete with a flower arrangement, on request.

Fill a sunny window ledge with a row of these coloured glass bulbs and bring a rainbow of reflections into any room. In darker corners a few tealights will throw prisms of light around a room and make it welcoming, alive. On dull days when it’s cold and dreary outside, bringing colour and warmth into your life can lift the eyes and spirit. 

Ranging from a few dollars for new ones or from around twenty-five dollars for ‘vintage’ bud vases, for those who like to invest in their or their children’s future by adding a touch of history or emotional investment to their collection, this is affordable for all collectors item that brings beauty via the tiny touches of lovely details to your life.

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