antique French faience hand painted pie flute pie vent pie funnel collectors piece bud vase

Antique French faience pie flute or funnel, also called a pie bird or vent, or pastry flute..
This charming little faience (or tin glazed, majolica) item possibly dates from the Eighteenth Century, it features delicate hand painted underglaze decoration of flower sprigs and butterflies.
The piece is a remarkable survivor, in great antique condition. There is a patch on the stem or neck where the glaze has not covered the ceramic body. This happened during the making process and is quite common to find in older pieces where everything was glazed and decorated by hand.
The indented and uneven top edge would have been hand cut. The edge is glazed in yellow and it is possible that this has been touched up at a later date, or it may just have unglazed patches, as some small areas of the rim are brighter yellow and matt finish rather than glossy.
There is a signature or code on the base, I have not been able to decipher this. See photo. If you recognise it, I would be very happy to know more about the piece.
Size approx 8cm high and 5cm diameter.
This item was made to be used to keep the pastry crust of a pie from collapsing into the filling. It would also be very pretty as a bud vase.



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