Fine Antique French Majolica Provence Faience Cicada Wall Pocket Vase

Pottery : Majolica : French

 

I just adore this whimsical guy! This majolica wallpocket is another treasure found during a recent buying trip to France. The cicada is a symbol of good luck and appears all over the region of Provence, in the Côte d’Azur in France. You see ceramic cicadas such as this one frequently attached to doorposts to bring good fortune to the occupants. The tradition started back in 1895 when a Provençal businessman commissioned a local potter to create a pottery cicada he could use as a corporate, promotional gift. The potter created a paperweight of a cicada on an olive branch. They were warmly received and, nearly overnight, a tradition was born. The wallpocket came along a few years later, around 1900, and the population clamored for them. Nearly every pottery manufacturer in Vallauris had a version of the cicada wallpocket. This example is 8” long, 3 ¼” wide, and extends 2 ¾” from the wall. There is a factory hole in the back for hanging this fellow at your own doorpost (if you’d like!). It is marked on the back with the impressed word “Vallauris”. Though the maker isn’t identified, I suspect this might be the product of Aegitna, as the font of the letters in the impressed “Vallauris” mark are identical to those used by Aegitna, which was a pottery in Vallauris in direct competition with the far more well-known local pottery, the Massiers. It likely dates to around 1910. This wallpocket is in perfect mint condition with no chips, cracks, hairlines, or repairs. In short, no damage of any sort. There is gentle crazing appropriate to his age, but it is not at all disfiguring. Shipping weight: 1 lb. 14 oz. (Location: OD)

Member: Majolica International Society

Item ID: RL0607031