Fiestaware Vases Which Do You Have?

Fiesta made two types of vases, bud vases and a regular. The regular vases were made in 8,10 and 12 inch versions.

Part of the original line, the bud vases were made from 1936 to 1946. They were 6 5/16inches by 2 7/8 inches. Vintage pieces may be marketed either Fiesta/HLC USA or Fiesta Made in USA. Red vases were discontinued in 1944. Other colors included Cobalt Blue, Ivory, Light Green, Red, Turquoise, and Yellow. Fiesta 10 inch modeling date was December 1935, Fiesta 8 inch January 1936, Fiesta 12 inch January 1936.  Vases in 8 inch were glazed: Red, Cobalt, Green, Yellow, Ivory, and Turquoise.  Red was discontinued early in 1944 with the balance discontinued in 1946.

The bud vases were slipcase like other hollowwware.  It was an original item in the Fiesta line.  Often you can see the mold seams along the sides. They were some made with the HLC USA impression and some with just MADE IN USA. The model date for the bud vase in May 1935 and they were made for 11 years. They were discontinued in 1946 except the red that was discontinued in 1944.  The vase is 6 5/16 inches tall, 2 7/8 inch base, and a 1 3/8 inch opening.

The 8 inch vase is 7 15/16inches in height and 4inches wide and were made from 1936 to 1946. The 10inch vase is 10inches by 5 1/8inches and produced from 1936 to 1942. The bottoms are marked with “Fiesta HLC USA”. The most expensive by far is the 12inch vase. Like the 10inch vase, it was produced for the same six years. The colors for the vases are the same as the bud vases. Red is the most expensive color listed for the vases.

Be aware there were several other companies that made bud vases very similar to Fiesta. The Van Briggle Company made a very similar vase except that it was 6 1/4inches tall.

Knowing the colors of the vintage and post 1986 bud vases is the bed way to tell them apart.  Also, the post 1986 bud vases have a dry foot.

The 8 inch vase was manufactured exclusively for Bloomingdales in 2000.  They were made using the original vintage mold. They were made in yellow, cobalt, white, turquoise, pearl grey, juniper, and persimmon.  In later years they added cinnabar and sunflower to the colors offered. All of these colors should have a small raised H on the bottom so that is a way to tell them from the originals.

All of the vinatage vases are collectible and the regular vases are somewhat hard to find. The 8 inch seems to be hardest to find, but the 12 inch has the highest value.

The Millennium 1 vase was made for Bloomingdale’s and they produced ten thousand of them for the stores.  They were introduced in 1998.  If you are lucky enough to find a black Millennium 1 vase, only 24 were made in 1999.  They were created for a school fund raiser.  Each of the 24 vases was numbered.

The Millennium 2 vase was made exclusively for Macy’s.  It was based on the design of the disc pitcher and introduced in 1998 after the Millennium 1.  This vase was not very popular and they stopped making it in 1999.

The Millennium 3 vase design was settled in 1999 and mass produced.  It was a more popular art deco design.  China Specialties add a decal of a sunporch on 500 of their vases before selling them.  The Homer Laughlin factory added a rose decal to a pearl gray glaze vase and sold them at their outlet store.

Good luck hunting for your next vase!


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