Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Search

In the wonderland of antiques, even the walls have pockets, and it’s no crime to pick them.
Picking wall pockets is a guiltless pleasure, and collectors and decorators have been getting away with it for some time now.
A wall pocket is a vessel, like a vase or planter, that was made to be mounted on a wall. They are usually ceramic, but can also be found in metal, chalk and glass. It’s an ancient concept. The Romans and Egyptians used them to burn incense, as did the Victorians.
Victorian chalk and ceramic scent sconces held incense, potpourri, or scent soaked cotton, sort of like an early “Airwick,” to sweeten the odor of the gentlemen’s pipe and cigar smokey library. These were often in the shape of heads of monks, Arabs or literary characters.
The turn of the century Arts and Crafts Movement Era saw a boom in wall pocket production, especially among American pottery companies like Teco, Rookwood, and Roseville. These are still among the most expensive on the market.
The golden age of the wall pocket in America, however, is the mid-20th Century (1930s-1950s). Fun and kitschy figural pockets flooded the five-and-dime market from Japan, Czechoslovakia, and American companies like McCoy and Lefton, as well as several California companies.
These are still inexpensive today, and just as much fun. So many folks have been collecting them that there is an international collectors club that you can access on-line at wallpockets.com.
The possibilities for collecting are endless. You can collect all fruit, flowers, birds, ladies’ heads, or by country or company. Crossovers, items that appeal to more than one set of collectors, always get a premium.
You can spend a couple of thousand dollars for a wall pocket, or there is a wide variety for under $50 and even under $20. Now that’s more than a steal; it’s downright felonious.
Appraisals: Roseville: Wisteria, $900; Sunflower, $850; Blackberry, $700; Futura, $650; Teco Pottery, cattail shape, $2,700; Weller, Pearl pattern, $450; Lefton, Bluebird, $200; Czech parrot, $100; McCoy fan, $70; Japanese, Bizen ware, frog on vine, $230; Czech bird house, $30; Head vase, lady w/blue hat, $30; Lefton, Lord’s Prayer, $10.
Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of the August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton. Send your comments, or appraisal requests with photo to aschwerdt@cmcherald.com.