Vintage 1950s-60s Italian Studio Pottery Cat Money Box

A charming and increasingly collectible mid-century ceramic cat money box, dating to the late 1950s–early 1960s.

Finished in a vibrant tangerine orange glaze and decorated with a stylised hand-painted folk floral motif in yellow and turquoise, this piece sits within the “folk modern” design movement that emerged across Europe after World War II. During this period, designers began combining traditional peasant pottery decoration with simplified modern forms to suit the new interiors of post-war homes.

Rather than being a simple toy, ceramic animal money boxes were intended as decorative domestic objects. Across Italy, Spain and Scandinavia they were placed on shelves and dressers as part of everyday interior styling, while also encouraging children to save - a value strongly promoted during the rebuilding years of the 1950s. These pieces therefore functioned as both décor and gentle moral education, which explains their sculptural form and careful hand-decoration.

The cat’s arched tail, triangular ears and softly rounded body reflect the modernist shift away from realism toward simplified shape - a design language seen in the same era as Bitossi, Baldelli and other European studio pottery animal figures. The underside is hand-signed, indicating small workshop production rather than factory manufacture.

Today, pieces like this are collected alongside mid-century Italian and Scandinavian ceramics and are especially sought after for colourful, layered interiors.

A joyful statement object - equally at home on shelving, a child’s room, or styled into a maximalist or modernist space.

Details

• Circa: 1950s–1960s
• Origin: Italy
• Material: Glazed ceramic
• Hand-painted decoration
• Hand-signed to base
• Original rubber coin stopper present

Condition

Good vintage condition.
Minimal wear to the foot pads. Some crazing. No cracks. Displays beautifully.

Measurements

Approx. 16cm H