If you've visited an antique mall anytime in recent years, you've probably seen them. They may have been made out of graceful glass, industrial metal or pretty pottery. They could have been spiky or figural or full of holes.
We're talking about a bit of an under the radar collectible...the flower frog.
Photo by Shannon P (that's me!)
Flower frogs come in all different styles and materials, which is very appealing to the collector! You could collect just the figural ceramic ones, the various metal industrial ones or all the different colored glass frogs.
Doing research on this topic, let me tell you, the latent hoarder collector in me is very tempted. Look at some of these beauties!
(me again)
First off, a somewhat classic design is the spiky frog, which is popular in Japanese ikebana flower arranging. It's called a Kenzan. This one is best for slender, flimsy stems.
Another fairly common style of flower frog is the clear glass variety.
They come in colored glass as well! The big glass makers all made them...Fostoria, Fenton, Viking. And it seems the color options are endless. Amber, carnival, peach luster, black, violet...
There is quite the variety in metal as well, if your tastes run more toward the functional and industrial.
The cage design shown in the top picture of this post is somewhat easily found, sometimes they are painted green to help them blend in with the foliage.
This unusual wire style flower frog is great for thick stems or thin branches and would add a bit of texture to a garden industrial vignette.
Holy smokes! See what I mean? And I haven't even touched on the figural ceramics! Here's a taste, but try Googling that yourself too. You'll see some amazing examples.