A ceramic book vase is a shelf trick that keeps working: from the front it is a hardback, from above it is an open vessel. This one is painted as a vintage seafood cookbook, red and cream with a crab on the cover and hand-lettered type, so it belongs in a kitchen rather than a library. The spine and boards are modeled in clay and painted by hand in Oklahoma, which is why the lettering has the slight waver of a real old jacket.
Perfect for: coastal kitchen decor, cookbook shelf styling, hostess gifts, housewarming gifts, utensil crocks, and beach house counters.
At 10 inches tall and under 3 inches deep, it is narrow enough to sit flush against a backsplash and deep enough to stand wooden spoons upright, which is the way most people actually use it.
Shelve it beside the "canned" oysters vase for a small coastal grouping.
