Vintage Olfaire Portugal Asparagus Lidded Tureen

Asparagus, but dramatically more useful than the actual vegetable.

This vintage Olfaire lidded asparagus tureen, made in Portugal, is sculpted to look like a freshly tied bundle of asparagus — complete with dimensional green stalks, beautifully textured purple tips, warm brown ties, and a molded handle incorporated into the lid.

The entire piece is worked in raised relief rather than simply decorated on a flat surface, giving it the tactile, sculptural quality that makes Portuguese botanical ceramics so good.

Lift the lid and the whimsical sculpture becomes a genuinely functional covered serving dish.

Use it for vegetables, potatoes, bread, side dishes, or as a small covered tureen at the table. And when dinner is over, it is absolutely good enough to live permanently on an open shelf or sideboard.

The underside is marked “Olfaire — Made in Portugal,” consistent with the source attribution. The best part is that it sits directly between serveware and sculpture — which is generally where the good stuff lives.

DETAILS

Maker: Olfaire
Origin: Portugal
Material: Glazed ceramic
Technique: Molded relief / Hand-applied glaze
Colors: Green / Cream / Purple / Brown
Motif: Asparagus bundle
Form: Covered serving dish / Tureen
Style: Portuguese / Majolica-Style / Botanical / European Country / Euro-Tropical
Period: Vintage, exact date unknown
Pieces Included: Base + Matching Lid
Quantity: 1

DIMENSIONS

Approximately 10–11" long.

The source seller provides the measurements photographically rather than as written dimensions, so I would still enter your own exact measurements in Shopify once you have the piece in hand rather than pretending we know it down to the quarter inch. 

For context, Replacements lists another discontinued Olfaire tureen-and-lid form at 11 3/8" wide and 8 1/2" high, confirming that Olfaire produced substantial covered serving pieces in Portugal. That is reference information only, not the measurement of this exact piece.

CONDITION

Good vintage condition.

No major cracks observed. The piece may show light surface marks or glaze imperfections consistent with age and previous use. 

Natural glaze variation and small signs of age are part of the character of vintage ceramic pieces.

Please review photographs closely for exact condition.

DĒSSO NOTE

Sometimes serving vegetables from a normal bowl is simply not enough.

Personally, I think asparagus deserves to be served from an asparagus-shaped tureen at least once in its life.

The purple tips are especially good.