Vase Shapes and Sizes
How to force hyacinths and which varieties to use
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Tye Hyacinth Vase
It seems a bit silly to start with Tye vases from the 1850s when hyacinths have been forced in water in England since 1734 but that seems to be the one that most people have heard of, I guess because it's the only Georgian/Victorian glass hyacinth vase that is actually marked by the manufacturer, having been moulded and stamped on the bottom, the others being delightfully hand-blown and locally made.
Tye Hyacinth Vase
This is a Tye hyacinth vase, left and above, so named after the manufacturer George Piercy Tye (?-1879). It's a short, bulbous shape with a short rim. The short rim makes it easy to identify Tye vases and differentiate them from the many imitations. Manufactured from 1850 for only about 10 years. Stamped on the bottom in a circle: "Gt Charles St, Birmingham" and in the middle: "G P Tye". Some also included "1850".
Squat Bulbous Hyacinth Vase
The vase below right was inspired by or an imitation of the Tye vase on the left. Notice the much larger rim. More examples are below.
Squat Bulbous Hyacinth Vases
This shape became very popular and was produced for many years in many colours and slight variations. The green and amber vases on the right, below, are ribbed. Victorian and into the 20th century, hand-blown and moulded.
Unique Bulbous Hyacinth Vase
This hand-blown vase was obviously inspired by the Tye shape but is slightly different from most examples seen (in fact, I've never seen another vase like this but I've seen many of the shape above).
Flattened Round Hyacinth Vase
The flattened round hyacinth vase shape is slightly later than the squat bulbous shape. Its cranberry colour was a very popular Victorian colour.
Flattened Round Hyacinth Vase
Another example of a flattened round hyacinth vase in cranberry, left, and in comparison with the other example and a round vase, below.
Round Hyacinth Vase
A round hyacinth vase, left, and in comparison with the flattened shape, above, late Victorian.
Tall Churn Hyacinth Vase with a shallow cup
This shape is one of the earliest ones I am aware of, dating from the 1820s? I have seen it dated 1790 but I am not certain if that is accurate. It is hand-blown, has a snapped off pontil and a prominent kick-up. Half a dozen examples are below, showing slight variations as you would expect from hand-blown glass. The vase on the left is among those below but shows the intense cobalt blue colour a bit better but as always I find my camera doesn't capture the exquisite hue.
Bristol Green Tall Churn Hyacinth Vase with a shallow cup
This colour has been called "Bristol green" as has the cobalt blue been called "Bristol blue". This picture better shows the kickup than in the group above.
X-Shape Hyacinth Vases
I was told the vase on the right was "Georgian" when I bought it but I have also seen the green one described as early 20th century. I have seen them called X-shape but I don't know if that is a standard accepted term.
Unfortunately the clear one is "sick": it has gone cloudy and no amount of cleaning will fix it.
Tall Churn Hyacinth Vases with larger cups
These vases are later, indicated by the larger cups and the absence of the snapped off pontils. The pontil marks do not exist or have been polished.
Tall Swept Hyacinth Vases
Some of the older tall churn hyacinth vases had a swept profile curving up to the cup, although this one is a bit later with a larger cup. Unfortunately I don't have an example of the older ones. The one on the left has a similar sweep but is a unique ribbed design of indeterminate age.
Tall Clear Ribbed Hyacinth Vase
Here is another unique (in my experience) vase. It has a ribbed shape and a polished pontil underneath. Not certain of age but I'm guessing Victorian or Edwardian.
Teardrop Hyacinth Vase
Victorian, hand-blown with a snapped off pontil, see above for size.
Clear Hyacinth Vase with Prongs
A number of unique hyacinth bulb vases were made in the 19th and early 20th century and it can be difficult to say for sure if they were definitely made to hold a bulb above water. I think this one was with the prongs to hold the bulb but it's not 100% certain. See above for size.
Modern Green Hyacinth Vases
The hyacinth vase on the left is that yellowish-greenish colour of uranium glass manufactured in the first half of the 20th century. Click on it to go to my UV page to see how it glows. The smaller green vase on the right is a similar shape but is less reactive under UV.
Mid-20th Century Hyacinth Vase
I believe these are from the 1950s.
Modern Hyacinth Vase
This is the ubiquitous inexpensive modern hyacinth vase that costs 50p in a charity shop. It's utterly boring but functional.
Posy Vase
I have seen a number of different vase shapes referred to as a "posy" including this one. I'm not even sure it is a hyacinth vase but the cup certainly seems suitable, if a bit small. The bulb used would have to be carefully chosen and on the smaller side.
Rose Bowl
This is part of my attempt to document all vase shapes, not just bulb vases. I understand this is a rose bowl but if anyone has another idea, please let me know. It has a high uranium content so glows under UV light, see below left.
See my Glass under UV Light page for more examples of reactive antique glass.
