Handmade Ceramic Vases, Made in Australia
Hand-formed in a Wollongong studio. Each piece is a sculpture built to hold flowers - or not. Brush-glazed, kiln-fired, from $45. Because they're made by hand, no two are ever identical.
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Handmade in Australia
One of a kind
Free shipping Australia-wide
Waterproof
Available now
Handmade Ceramic Vases
Handmade ceramic vases made in Australia. Because each piece is handmade individually, no two are identical.
The Design
Not a Vessel. A Sculpture That Holds Flowers.
Most ceramic vases are designed to disappear. Neutral shapes, safe glazes, nothing that competes with the flowers. Rhiannon's work goes the other way. Each vase is built as an object first - a sculptural form with something to say whether it holds stems or stands as a decorative vase that needs no flowers to earn its place. Most people buy these as a vessel. Many discover they prefer them as sculptural vases, displayed without a single stem.
The forms come from hand-building and slip-casting, shaped while the clay is still plastic. The walls carry the evidence of that process - slight variations in thickness, a rim that sits just off-square, a surface that catches light differently from different angles. These are not flaws. They are what makes a handmade object worth owning, and which is exactly what 2026 home decor and interior design trends are recognising as a quality to seek: deliberate irregularities that celebrate the human hand.
The glazes are brushed on by hand in layers, then fired at high temperature to fuse into a dense, glossy surface. The colours pool and bleed where they meet. No two firings produce exactly the same result - which means every piece has its own character, even within the same form and glaze palette.
Shop the full collection of Handmade Ceramic Vases
The forms come from hand-building and slip-casting, shaped while the clay is still plastic. The walls carry the evidence of that process - slight variations in thickness, a rim that sits just off-square, a surface that catches light differently from different angles. These are not flaws. They are what makes a handmade object worth owning, and which is exactly what 2026 home decor and interior design trends are recognising as a quality to seek: deliberate irregularities that celebrate the human hand.
The glazes are brushed on by hand in layers, then fired at high temperature to fuse into a dense, glossy surface. The colours pool and bleed where they meet. No two firings produce exactly the same result - which means every piece has its own character, even within the same form and glaze palette.
The Maker
Made by Rhiannon, in Wollongong
Rhiannon Gill is a self-taught ceramicist working from her coastal studio at Bellambi on the NSW South Coast. Every piece in this collection was made by her hands, in that studio, from start to finish.
There is no team, no mass production line, no outsourced glazing. When you buy one of these pieces, you are buying the direct output of one person's craft. Rhiannon forms the clay, fires the kiln, photographs each piece, and packs the order. When you buy one of these vases, you are buying the direct output of one person's practice - not a brand built around the idea of handmade.
The studio is open to visitors by appointment. If you want to see the work in person before you buy, get in touch at hello@rhiannongillceramics.com
Visit the studio by appointment
There is no team, no mass production line, no outsourced glazing. When you buy one of these pieces, you are buying the direct output of one person's craft. Rhiannon forms the clay, fires the kiln, photographs each piece, and packs the order. When you buy one of these vases, you are buying the direct output of one person's practice - not a brand built around the idea of handmade.
The studio is open to visitors by appointment. If you want to see the work in person before you buy, get in touch at hello@rhiannongillceramics.com
How They're Made
From Clay to Something Worth Keeping
Rhiannon's vases are hand-formed, not wheel-thrown. The distinction matters. Wheel-throwing produces consistent, symmetrical shapes - which is why most studio pottery looks the same. Hand-forming is slower, more physical, and impossible to replicate exactly. Each piece is built up from clay that is pushed, pressed, and coaxed into shape by hand. The form that results is particular to that moment, that batch of clay, that morning in the studio.
After drying and a bisque firing, the glaze is applied by brush in multiple layers. Rhiannon creates her own unique glazes and builds up the colour through repeated applications - brushing, layering, sometimes scraping back to reveal the surface beneath. The depth you see in a finished piece is the product of that accumulated process, not a single dip in a glaze bucket.
A final cone 6 firing (approximately 1220°C) fuses the glaze into a fully vitrified, waterproof surface. The resulting piece is dense, durable, and food safe. It can hold water, fresh flowers, and decades of use.
After drying and a bisque firing, the glaze is applied by brush in multiple layers. Rhiannon creates her own unique glazes and builds up the colour through repeated applications - brushing, layering, sometimes scraping back to reveal the surface beneath. The depth you see in a finished piece is the product of that accumulated process, not a single dip in a glaze bucket.
A final cone 6 firing (approximately 1220°C) fuses the glaze into a fully vitrified, waterproof surface. The resulting piece is dense, durable, and food safe. It can hold water, fresh flowers, and decades of use.
Why buy handmade
From $45. One of a Kind. No Gallery Mark-Up.
Something for every budget
From a $45 bud vase to a $380 large sculptural piece - a genuinely handmade gift for any occasion and budget. Comparable Australian studio ceramics often start at $200+. Rhiannon sells direct, which keeps prices honest across the whole range.
4+ hours to make each piece
Hand-forming, drying, bisque firing, brush-glazing in layers, kiln firing. Each vase is the result of multiple sessions across multiple days. That is what you are paying for - and why it outlasts everything else in the room.
Direct from studio to your door
No middleman. Rhiannon makes it, photographs it, and sends it to you. Free tracked shipping included on every order across Australia for orders above $190. Flat rate shipping for $15 otherwise.
FAQ
Questions About Handmade Ceramic Vases
Yes. Every vase is fired at cone 6 (approximately 1220°C), which produces a fully vitrified, waterproof body. The interior glaze is food safe and completely sealed. Fill them with water and fresh stems - that is exactly what they are made for.
A rinse after use is usually enough. However, these pieces are built to last decades, so if you want to put them in a dishwasher, that's fine too!
Because each piece is made entirely by hand, taking 4+ hours across multiple sessions: hand-forming, drying, bisque firing, brush-glazing in layers, kiln firing. That is before photography, packing, or shipping. A mass-produced pottery vase is made by a machine in seconds. A handmade one is made by a person who spent years learning how. The material cost (clay, glazes, kiln electricity) is real too, but it's the time and skill that accounts for most of the price difference.
Dried flowers and botanicals, pampas grass, eucalyptus branches, foraged stems, single stems from the garden, cotton branches, seed pods. Many people also use them as standalone objects - on a shelf, a bedside table, or a windowsill with nothing in them at all. These pieces are designed to hold their own, empty.
Absolutely - dried arrangements are a great match for these vases. You get the colour and texture of the vase alongside the muted tones of dried botanicals, which tend to complement rather than compete. No water needed, so there is no maintenance. Just arrange and leave.
Very close, but not identical. The photos show a real piece made in the studio using the same form and glaze palette as yours. Because each piece is handmade individually, there will be slight variation in tone and surface texture - the glaze pools slightly differently in each firing, and the form carries the subtle marks of the hand that made it. This is not a flaw; it's what handmade means.
The collection spans from small bud vases (roughly 8-12cm tall, suited to single stems or small posies) to large sculptural pieces (25cm+, suited to full bunches, tall stems, and statement arrangements). Each product listing includes exact dimensions. If you are unsure whether a specific piece suits a particular arrangement, get in touch and we can help.
Yes - a handmade ceramic vase is a lasting, practical object that most people would love to receive! It's the kind of gift that earns a permanent place in someone's home rather than ending up at the back of a cupboard. Works for housewarming, birthdays, Mother's Day, and wedding anniversaries (pottery is the traditional gift for the 9th anniversary). Entry-level pieces start at $45 for something genuinely special, with larger sculptural pieces at $140-$380 for a real statement gift. Every order arrives carefully wrapped. If you would like a handwritten note included, just mention it in your order notes.
Look for slight variations in the form - walls that are not perfectly uniform, a rim that is not a perfect circle, surface texture that shifts across the piece. These are signs of hand work, not errors. Rhiannon's pieces are photographed individually precisely because no two are identical. If a "handmade" vase looks like every other one in the range, it probably wasn't made by hand.
Sometimes. Rhiannon occasionally takes commissions - if there is a piece that has sold and you would like something in a similar glaze direction, or if you have a specific size in mind, it is worth asking. Send an enquiry with what you have in mind and she will let you know what is possible and the current wait time.
Handmade in Wollongong. No two ever identical.
Every form is also available to preorder - so there's always something available. Hand-formed, brush-glazed, from $45. Free shipping across Australia.
Shop Australian Handmade Ceramic Vases