Hamlet Book Vase

Description:

A ceramic vase shaped like a hardcover book, inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet — a skull wreathed in pansies, daisies and marigolds on a deep green cover, with gold lettering, a gilt border and sculpted pages along the spine. The wide top opening takes fresh stems, dried grasses, or the pens and brushes on your desk.

The two things on this cover are the play's two most famous images, and they belong together. The skull is Yorick's — the jester Hamlet lifts from the grave and remembers riding on as a boy. The flowers are Ophelia's: in her last scene she hands them out one by one with their meanings — "there's rosemary, that's for remembrance… and there is pansies, that's for thoughts" — then fennel, columbine, rue, a daisy, and the violets she can't give because they "withered all when my father died." So this is a vase with a reading list on it: pansies for thoughts, a skull for what comes after. Put flowers in it and you're finishing Ophelia's sentence.

Why you'll love it:

• Deep green and gold cover with a skull-and-wildflowers design — Yorick and Ophelia on one spine
• Sculpted ceramic pages and spine so it reads as a book on the shelf, even empty
• Wide top opening for flowers, dried arrangements, or desk supplies and utensils
• Glossy ceramic finish that sits happily on a bookshelf, mantel, or kitchen counter

Perfect for: Shakespeare readers, a shelf that needs a little memento mori, English teachers, or anyone who'd rather their vase had a plot.

Details:

• Material: Ceramic, glossy finish
• Dimensions: 8 × 5.3 × 2.5 in (20.3 × 13.3 × 6.4 cm)
• Weight: 2 lb (0.91 kg)
• Style: Book-shaped vase, wide top opening

A book you water. It stands with the classics and holds whatever the season brings.