At the Head of Their Class
Maddy Gordon’s collection of lady head vases charm at Strawser Auction event.
Inarco lady head vase E-1904, 1964, 6 3/4 in., $300
Small ceramic beauties with beguiling personalities, lady head vases are popular mid-century pieces that “head hunters” have fun collecting today. With their glamorous style, these vases add charming kitsch to bookcases, shelves, tables, and any other space they grace.
Left: Lady head vase, 5 1/2 in. h, $500.
Right: Relpo lady head vase, K1678, 9 1/2 in., $225.
One super collector and renowned expert on these lovely ladies was the late Maddy Gordon, who acquired over 3,000. On July 22, Strawser Auction Group offered more than 200 of Gordon’s spectacular vases in the first in a series of sales of her collection planned over the next several years.
Gordon, who died in 2022 at the age of 81, founded the influential Head Hunters Newsletter and organized the annual Head Vase Conventions in Kissimmee, Florida, for many years. She was also a big fan of America’s first head vase creator, Betty Lou Nichols, and authored the book Head Vases, Etc., The Artistry of Betty Lou Nichols.
Royal Crown Japan lady head
vase, 3477, 7 in. h, $1,500.
Gordon’s extensive collection features head vases in many different styles produced by companies such as Lefton, Inarco, Napco, Relpo, Royal Crown, and others. The top lot was a seven-inch-high lady head vase by the English company Royal Crown, made in Japan, number 3477 that sold for $1,500. The pretty lady is wearing a bonnet, has a green bow on one side of her neck, and has a perfectly manicured hand framing one side of her face.
Head vases have roots in 19th-century Europe, but the vases Americans are most familiar with started being produced in the 1930s as marketing pieces for florist companies to sell more small bouquets. It’s estimated that more than 10,000 head vases in a multitude of styles and forms were made until the 1970s, when the demand for them dwindled, and most companies stopped production.
Lady head vases exude elegance with their mid-century fashions, perfectly coiffed hairdos, big, lush eyelashes, and ruby lips. They are sometimes adorned with pearl necklaces, earrings, other jewelry, a fashionable hat or gloves—and sometimes all three accessories.
Left: Napco lady head vase with green glass hat, 6 in. h, $950.
Right: Napco lady head vase with blue glass hat, 6 in. h, $1,100.
Vases with hats are desirable to collectors, and the other top-selling pieces in the auction all have them. They were made by Napco. They include a vase with a blue glass hat that sold for $1,100, one with a green glass hat that fetched $950, a vase with a light blue glass hat, 2P1938, that sold for $900, and one with a pink glass hat, 2P1938, that brought $900.
While some people limit their collections to beautiful ladies, Gordon was attracted to the whole universe of head vases, which includes animals, babies and children, brides, clowns, Madonnas, nurses, and characters like Uncle Sam. Some pieces are also not vases at all but ashtrays, lamps, and lipstick holders.
Left: Napco lady head vase with green glass hat, 6 in. h, $950.
Right: Royal Crown Les Girls lady head vase #3664, 5-1/2 in. h, $800.
Other hot lots included a Royal Crown Les Girls head vase, 3664, with a hat and earrings, that sold for $800, a Relco lady head vase with a hat and necklace that fetched $600, a Reis lady wall pocket that sold for $300, a red-headed Lefton lady ashtray/match holder that brought $275, an Uncle Sam head vase that also sold for $225, and a Picasso-esque glass head vase by Italian artist Walter Furlan that fetched $170.
For more results, visit the Strawser Auction Group website. Photos courtesy of Strawser Auction Group.
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