Hi all.
This is a vase I inherited from my mother when she passed.
It was given to her in 1960 by her mother, my grandmother, before she passed.

My grandmother, was an Irish immigrant who came to America in the early part of the 19th century. Like so many others, she was pretty much dirt poor. She was also widowed at a young age.

During the Great Depression she cleaned houses in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio called Bexley. It was (and still is) a predominantly affluent Jewish American community. One of her clients, knowing how tough times were, actually offered to adopt my mother. This lady was a member of the Lazarus family. A very large and extended family which owned department stores of the same name across the Midwest (now part of Macy’s). My grandmother of course turned down the offer. (lucky me huh?) The lady of the house proceeded to give my grandmother this vase. She told her to go sell it, ….that it was very valuable. Well, grandma never did, and how it survived all these years of a generation of kids and dogs and moves without so much as one chip or ding…. is amazing.

I have no idea what to think about it. It [i]is[/i] beautiful. Its probably about 20 inches tall. What inspired me to post this is that I saw a similar looking one (different painting but the same style of raised enamel(?) and same basic shape and size) on The Antiques Road Show that was valued at $25,000. It came from a place just down the road from Columbus called Zanesville, Ohio. The Mettler pottery company. Apparently, they were the bees knees.

I looked at their museum displays however and found nothing close. [i]And[/i] this has no artist markings whatsoever. I have looked and looked.

It looks Oriental to me. The guys are carrying footballs or something. And the handles are like dragon heads. I don’t think Mettler made it, and the only reason I mentioned them here is because they were just an hour away and maybe they did.

Sooooo. Can anybody help me out with an opinion. I have no intention of selling but I am curious as all get out. I love this goofy looking football thing. Thanks 🙂