Mocha Ware Design Studio Pottery Flower Vase by Vanessa Waller (marked VAW)

This is a handsome, contemporary take on the classic 18th-century ‘Mocha Ware’.

The vase is broadly cylindrical, with a waisted rim and flared base. Two-thirds of the body is glazed in white, and some of this glaze extends to inside the rim. There is a band of brown glaze that runs circumferentially around the vase that is surmounted by dendritic glaze ‘foliage’. This design was first made popular in the late 18th century in Staffordshire and was named after the naturalistic patterns seen in mocha agate (also known as moss agate).

The lower part of the vase is incised with two circumferential bands. The base then flares out and is impressed on the edge with the initials ‘VAW’. This is the potter’s mark for Vanessa Waller (née Taylor). The underside is plain.

It has a height of approximately 19.3cm, with a diameter across the rim of about 10.0cm and across the base of about 10.3cm.

It has an unwrapped weight of 650g.

It is in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks.