What Is a Celery Vase?

History

• During the early part of the 19th century, glass manufacturing underwent a revolution. Previously, artisans used blowpipes to create glassware, but technological advances led to the development of pressed glass, a technique that shapes molten glass using a plunger. By 1850, manufacturers began producing pressed glass in mass quantities and perfecting creating decorative patterns into glassware like celery vases. Some of the most famous manufacturers of celery vases, including Fosteria, had their headquarters in Fosteria, Ohio.

Purpose

• During the Victorian era, from the 1830s to the early 1900s, celery was a rare and expensive vegetable that required a lot of care to cultivate. Cooks cleaned and scraped raw stalks, then put them in cold water in tall glass vases. This style of preparation and presentation in expensive celery vases was a symbol of prestige and confirmed a family’s upper-class status.

Features

• The design of celery vases ranged from simple styles to elaborate decorations resembling flowers with scalloped or fluted edges. The bases of the vases were also cut into designs such as stars or other shapes. The pressed-glass designs included elaborate patterns, intricate geometric shapes, beaded swirls, landscapes scenes and nature motifs. Some vases were made of colored, frosted glass. Custom-made vases had the names of their owners etched into the base. Even when the vases had no celery in them, owners used them as table centerpieces and to hold flowers.

Decline and Historical Significance

• Production of celery vases began to subside by the beginning of the 20th century as the presentation style of celery changed to serving the vegetable on flat dishes. Also, the prestige of owning celery vases declined as manufacturers began to mass produce the objects. Agricultural advances that led to easier-to-grow varieties of celery also made the vegetable less prestigious. Today, fine-arts museums and galleries display antique celery vases as works of American decorative art that give a glimpse into the lives of the well-to-do during the Victorian age. Antique shops, auction houses and specialty glass dealers also catalog and sell celery vases.