Description

Pair of Small Green Decorative Ceramic Spll Vases with Children in 18th Century Dress Sliding No maker's mark found--Probably UCAGCO Ceramics of Japan . Trimmed with metallic gold. Condition as shown in photos. One leaf on bottom flower of boy vase is broken. No other chips found. Otherwise, minimal wear. No cracks or crazing. Each measures approx 4 1/2" high x 4 1/2" wide x 1 3/4" deep. From Wikipedia: A spill vase, or spill holder is a small cylindrical vase or wall-hanging vase for containing splints, spills, and tapers for transferring fire, for example to light a candle or pipe from a lit fire. From the documentary record, they probably date back to the 15th century, though the heyday of specially made vases is the 19th century. Spills are made of tightly rolled paper tapers or very thin wood sticks; spill vases are mostly made of pottery, including porcelain. A spill vase was usually kept on the mantelpiece and was filled with spills used to transfer fire from the fireplace to candles, lamps, a pipe or a cigar. Commercial matches, which first surfaced in England during the 1820s, were a relatively expensive commodity until the late 19th century, and spill was therefore a more cost effective solution.