Hammershøi Vase Sizes: H10.5, H13, H21 or H25.5 cm

The Hammershøi vase is made in four heights, and the gap between them is not only a question of scale. Each height suits a particular stem length, and the widest of the four behaves differently from the rest. Here is how H10.5, H13, H21 and H25.5 cm compare, and how to match one to the flowers you actually bring home.

Where the grooves come from

Kähler was founded in Næstved, Denmark, in 1839, and the Danish artist Svend Hammershøi worked in its workshop in the early 1900s. His pieces carried a horizontal grooved surface that gave plain glazed earthenware a quiet rhythm. Designer Hans-Christian Bauer took that language and rebuilt it in porcelain for the Hammershøi series, keeping the grooves as the only decoration on an otherwise undecorated body.

The grooves do the work that a pattern would normally do. Each recess holds a thin line of shadow, the ridge beside it takes the light, and a matt surface that would otherwise read as flat picks up a soft striped gradient that shifts as you move past it. On the white version the effect is subtle and cool. On Anthracite grey it is stronger, because the shadow in each groove has further to fall from the lit edge. This is also why the vases look complete standing empty, which matters if you only fill them occasionally.

The four heights compared

All four are porcelain and all four share the same grooved profile. Height, diameter and weight are where they separate.

Read the diameter column as carefully as the height one. The H13 is wider than it is tall, while the H10.5 is narrow enough to hold a single stem upright without any support. Between those two extremes the H21 and H25.5 keep roughly the same slim proportion, scaled up.

Match the stem length to the vase height

Most disappointing arrangements come from a mismatch between stem and vessel, not from the flowers themselves. A useful working rule is that the heads should clear the rim by about the height of the vase, so a 21 cm vase carries an arrangement that finishes somewhere near twice that from the tabletop. Cut down to that figure and the bouquet looks deliberate; leave the stems long and the whole thing tips forward.

• H10.5 cm: one stem, or two or three of something small such as anemones or a sprig of blossom. The 8.5 cm diameter closes around the stems and keeps them standing where you place them.
• H13 cm: short stems cut to a hand's length, arranged loosely so they fan out and rest on the rim.
• H21 cm: a standard wrapped bouquet, trimmed. This is the height that handles tulips well, since the stems keep growing after cutting and the depth gives them room.
• H25.5 cm: long-stemmed flowers, branches in spring, eucalyptus or dried grasses that stay in place for months.

Why the H13 is the odd one out

At 13 cm high and 13.5 cm across, the H13 is the only one of the four whose mouth is wider than its height. That changes what it does. Instead of gathering stems into a column, it lets a bunch fall open and hold its own shape against the rim, which is what short garden flowers and market bunches want. Ranunculus, garden roses with a short cut and peonies past their first day all sit better here than in a narrow neck.

It is also the practical choice for flowers that arrive already short, the kind sold in a small bunch rather than a long wrapped sheaf. The trade-off is that it needs enough material to fill it: three stems in a wide mouth look stranded, where the same three would look composed in the H10.5. The H13 is made in white only, so if you are building a group in Anthracite grey the other three heights are the ones to work with.

White, Anthracite grey and grouping them

White reads as porcelain first and shape second, and it disappears politely into a pale wall or a bare oak table. Anthracite grey does the opposite: it holds its outline, throws the grooves into relief and works as a dark punctuation mark on an open shelf. Mixed groups of the two tend to look busy on a small surface, so pick one direction per shelf and vary the height instead.

Grouping works best in odd numbers with a clear step between sizes. The H10.5 and the H21 give you that step without a middle term, and adding the H25.5 makes a staircase that still reads as one family because the grooves run at the same scale across all of them. Weight tells you where each one can safely stand: at 0.3 kg the H10.5 is light enough to move around with one hand, while the H25.5 at 2.38 kg stays put even with a top-heavy branch in it.

Care is the same across the series. Wipe with a damp cloth and keep them out of the dishwasher, since the matt surface and the grooves both hold water marks longer than a glazed, smooth body would.

Which height to buy first

If you buy flowers regularly and want one vase to cover most weeks, the Hammershøi Vase H21 cm is the one that asks the least of you: a shop bouquet goes in with a single trim. If flowers are an occasional thing and you would rather have something that looks right empty, start with the Hammershøi Vase H10.5 cm and a single stem, then add the Hammershøi Vase H25.5 cm when you want branches. Anyone who buys from a garden or a market stall, with everything cut short, should look at the Hammershøi Vase H13 cm white before the taller pair. Kähler also makes a miniature Hammershøi set of three, which is worth knowing about as a companion to a full-size vase rather than a replacement for one.

If you are still weighing the series against Kähler's other icon, our comparison of Hammershøi and Omaggio sets the grooved porcelain next to the striped ceramic. Otherwise, see the full Vases collection to place these four alongside the glass and ceramic shapes they will share a shelf with.