We welcome the Spring with this sunny vase, hand-crafted and hand-painted in France in the 1920's or 1930's. It was made by the small French pottery workshop "Lachanal" which is best known for it's Persian-inspired turquoise blue glazes. This vase is aesthetically atypical and is marked "Piece Unique" (and signed by the artist, whom I have not identified). It seems to be a "one-off" experimental creation. The body of the vase is reminiscent of the shape, texture and color of a lemon (which, wistfully, reminds me of a trip to Sorrento last Spring). Over the yellow lies an intriguing, hand-painted "caramel" glaze—a spiky grid which (in a leap) reminds me of the longitude and latitude lines of the Earth.
Today is the first day of Spring, also called the Vernal Equinox. "Equinox" means "Equal Night"—for, on this date, the day and the night are the same length. Technically, it's the day when the Sun's annual "path" through the sky passes the Earth's Equator (from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere). The Earth's axis (the "rod" on which it spins) is perfectly aligned so that both hemispheres get equal sunlight. Going forward, the days will be longer than the nights in the Northern Hemisphere and the days will be shorter than the nights in the Southern Hemisphere (where today is the first day of Autumn).
This year is interesting for another reason: it's the earliest Vernal Equinox since 1896. Usually the first day of Spring is on the 20th or 21st of March.
Happy Spring!
To learn more about this handsome and sunny Lachanal vase, please click on the photo above.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Pittsburgh's historic "Strip District" at Mahla & Co. Antiques (www.mahlaantiques.com) or in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248