The terms “head vase,” “lady head vase,” or “head planters” refer to a style of ceramic vase popularized during the 1950s and generally featuring the head or bust of a person, usually a woman. Originally, head vases were produced by florist companies to hold the bouquets they sold. Their small openings helped to maximize sales by limiting the number of blossoms each container held.

Early American head vase manufacturers include Betty Lou Nichols, Ceramic Arts Studio, and Dorothy Copley. Betty Lou Nichols opened her first ceramics studio in 1945. Nichols’ distinctive vases often showcase ladies with intricately curled hair and fabric ruffles along with pouting lips and her signature three-dimensional black eyelashes, all in hard ceramic.

Head vase subjects ranged from Disney characters to exoticized foreign females to the Virgin Mary. Today, many of the most collectible head vases feature the likenesses of famili...ar celebrities, like Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy.