MCM Ceramic Leaf, by Valenty Zaharek, 1950s - 1960s

1950s - 1960s Mid-century Modern green Leaf by famed artisan Valenty Zaharek. This piece is a wall pocket /planter. This will be perfect for your pottery collection. No chips or cracks.

Mr. Zaharek had polio after WWII and finally settled in Sedona, AZ where he started a flourishing ceramics career.

Valenty Zaharek (d. 1979), who often incorporated Native American motifs into his work, worked primarily in New Mexico and Arizona. An article on him in Desert magazine for July 1955 notes that he "contracted polio after World War II and was flat on his back in a mid-western hospital for over a year." After moving to Sedona, he "develop[ed] a successful one-man business. . . . He designs and makes the models of an exciting line of ceramic animals and Indian-inspired ashtrays and planters in addition to special contract work for varied types of wood carving. He does all his selling himself and takes to the road periodically in his panel truck. . . ."