As the vase has become one of the most universal home accessories, contemporary designers have pushed boundaries, making vases that are not only functional objects, but also works of art and conceptual statements.

Their creations defy gravity and spatial logic, and captivate with unusual forms.In the hands of experienced art and design historian Agata Toromanoff, Vases showcases the unprecedented scope and quality of today’s state-of-the-art vases. From Ted Muehling’s sleek, gilded “Goose Egg” to Glithero’s botanical cyanotypes on ceramic and Joogii’s color-shifting prisms covered in dichroic film, there are no limits to what contemporary designers can make out of what is fundamentally a container for holding flowers.

An essential sourcebook for collectors, designers, and anyone with an interest in interior decoration, this book includes important mid-century to late twentieth-century vases and focuses primarily on the twenty-first-century scene, with a wide international selection of emerging designers from the younger generation. These designers translate their original visions into a variety of forms, blurring the lines between design, sculpture, and architecture. The pieces featured in Vases are contemporary works of art, worthy of inclusion in museum collections—where many already reside.