Vintage Wednesday: What is it?

It's made of glass. It's full of holes. It sits at the bottom of a container. It holds flowers. What is it? It's called a frog!

Frogs can come in different sizes, shapes and colors. Sometimes art pottery vases came with matching frogs. I've seen several examples of Van Briggle pottery that include matching frogs. One is a basic tulip design, but one is a lovely Indian maiden gazing into a "pond" and the matching "frog" is what looks like a frog sitting on a lily pad - complete with holes for flowers!

I enjoy the variety of colors and sizes. I find that having a variety on hand comes in handy depending on the size of the arrangement. Although modern arrangements often utilize marbles, tape or even fruit to help stabilize the arrangement, I find these old-fashioned frogs to be just as handy.

You can often pick up frogs in antique shops, thrift stores, estate sales or even ebay. They're pretty easy to find and I often find them for $1 to $2 each. Examples like the green frog to the right are sometimes a little more expensive because of their collectability via another means - i.e., vaseline glass, depression glass or milk glass or as art pottery described above. They're weighty little things, which is actually good in helping keep your vase weighted so it won't tip over.

In all, it's worth owning one or two of these if you're a flower person like me!

*Click on the Van Briggle photo for photo credit!