Vases

Baluster, meiping, gourd: three shapes, and centuries of variation on them. Antique vases come in porcelain, stoneware, bronze, brass and carved bone from China, Japan, India and Europe. Chinese blue-and-white and monochrome porcelain, Japanese bronze ikebana vessels, Indian brass with engraved floral bands and Chinese vases clad in carved bone carry those forms forward. Crackled glazes and the brown patina of old bronze give them presence before a stem goes in. A branch of flowering quince in a tall vase, or a row of empty vases along a mantel, lets silhouette carry the room. Flowers are optional.