Saffron Scalloped Vase

Use a liner for fresh flowers. Terracotta and standing water are a poor pairing.

For dried and faux stems it needs nothing. Pampas, dried grasses, branches or good faux foliage, which suits the vessel and means it looks intentional year round.

For fresh flowers, use a watertight liner inside. Glazed terracotta may seep at any unglazed point, and a jam jar or a plastic liner sitting below the rim solves it entirely.

Stem length. Aim for around 50cm from the rim upward, which gives a finished arrangement roughly one and a half times the height of the vase.

34cm is a proper statement height, tall enough to hold a mantel or a console on its own rather than needing to be grouped.

The colour, and the scallop. Both are doing work.

Decorative vases come in cream, grey, terracotta and black, and very little else. A saturated warm yellow is genuinely uncommon, which is why one vessel in this colour changes a neutral room more than three in another.

It is a mustard rather than a bright yellow, with a warm earthy cast that comes from the terracotta body showing through the glaze. That warmth is what stops it looking primary, and it is why it sits with timber and linen rather than fighting them.

The scalloped rim is the vintage detail. A plain cut rim finishes a vase; a scalloped one gives it a period quality and a small piece of movement at the top where the eye finishes.

The glossy hand-applied glaze varies slightly in depth across the body, pooling darker in the curve and thinner over the shoulder. Hand glazing is what produces that unevenness, and it is why no two pieces are identical.

• A saturated warm yellow, a colour very little else offers
• Scalloped rim, a vintage detail most vases skip
• Hand-applied glossy glaze that varies in depth across the body
• Terracotta body showing warmth through the yellow
• 34cm tall, enough to hold a mantel or a console alone
• Works empty, since the colour and the rim carry it
• Suits dried and faux stems, so it looks right year round
• No two alike, since the glaze is applied by hand

A yellow this saturated is a strong note. Put it against bare timber, linen or a pale wall and let it be the single point of interest, rather than pairing it with another coloured piece on the same surface.

The colour and the scalloped rim carry it with nothing in it. On a mantel or a kitchen counter, an empty vessel in a good colour is a better object than a badly filled one.

Against a warm yellow, green foliage looks considerably better than coloured blooms, which compete. Olive, eucalyptus or dried grasses from faux flowers and greenery.

If it is joining other vessels, make them plain. Cream, stone or unglazed terracotta at different heights, with this as the one that has the colour.

Mustard against a warm white, clay or deep olive wall looks intentional. Against a cool grey it turns slightly green and loses its warmth entirely.

Use a liner for fresh flowers. Terracotta is porous at any unglazed point, so standing water can seep through and mark the surface underneath. A jam jar or a plastic liner sitting below the rim solves it, and costs nothing.

Wipe clean with a soft damp cloth, dried straight after. Do not submerge it or put it in a dishwasher.

Nothing abrasive on the glossy glaze, which will dull it permanently in patches.

Mind the scalloped rim. The thinnest points are the peaks of the scallop, which is where a chip would start. Lift it from the body rather than the rim.

Use a mat on a polished surface, since a terracotta base will mark timber if the vase is slid rather than lifted.

What to expect. The glaze is hand applied, so depth and tone vary across the body and between pieces. Yours will not match the photograph exactly.

It ships packed for ceramic. Current timescales and charges are set out on our delivery page.

Not sure what to put in it, or whether the colour suits your room? Ask us. Reach us via our contact page or live chat.

If it is not right, our returns process is straightforward, and everything is covered by our guarantees and warranties.

Our price match promise stands if you find the same piece for less elsewhere. Styling a holiday let or a showhome? Ask about trade accounts.