Show and Tell: My Pottery Collection

One of my passions is collecting pottery. Last weekend, while visiting my wonderful in-laws, we toured the numerous antique shops in the area. I had a fantastic time. One of my best purchaces of the weekend was the tall brown Haeger vase you see above, center. I started thinking how large my collection is growing, and thought, why not gather it all together to see what it looks like.

I love to scour thrift shops, antique stores, junk stores and garage sales. Some days I hit the jack pot and other days I don't find anything. It takes a comitment to go different places, hunt through a bunch of junk and sometimes it pays off and I find something really great. It's an art.

Usually things that catch my eye are vintage, handmade, and have interesting colors, form and textures. I also seek out items that have a Japanese or Scandinavian vibe.

I had a lot of fun going around the house, gathering all my pieces and arranging them together, then splitting them up by color:

The large yellow and white piece on the left is one of my favorites. I found it recently at St. Vinnies--the best thrift store in Madison.

I made the little vase on the right and the bowl on the left in a pottery class Matt and I took last year. The large bird is Jonathan Adler (a gift from Matt a few years ago) as is the curvy vase in the center.

Usually, I will go awhile without finding anything, and then one day I will really score big. I think this is one reason that keeps collecting so exciting. Yesterday I was poking around at a near-by second hand store and came upon an absolutely fabulous, beautiful, wonderful piece (which I will blog about later this weekend) and I literally got that rush of feeling like I really found something special.

I don't just shop second-hand. The square vase with the hole in it, above, is Jonathan Adler which I bought on sale online a few years ago. The little green owl is from Pier-1. I love him!

I found the planter on the right at a garage sale last summer. It holds one of my favorite plants; a spiny aloe variety.

The little birds you see on the right are a chick and rooster salt and pepper shakers. There are no markings on them, but they look Scandinavian to me. They are one of my favorites. I also found the Mexican folk art bird at a thrift shop--it's in perfect condition.


Thankfully I have an absolutely wonderful husband who never complains about my collecting tendancies. Sometimes I even catch him re-arranging some of them. :)