As with many smaller California potteries, there isn’t a whole lot to go on for Kellems of Pasadena. To date, the majority of items I’ve seen have been planters. According to Jack Chipman’s Encyclopedia, they were actually well known for a specific type of planter - the Self-Watering type. The idea is that a two part planter would provide a self-watering mechanism where the top part contains a special wick in order to suck up water from the bottom base part of the pot. Seems like an interesting idea.

I do see the planters appear on Ebay occasionally - one note if you decide to go looking for them. A search of just the word “Kellems” will turn up many auctions for electrical test equipment. As such, it’s better to add the term “pottery” or “planter” to your search in order to find Kellems items.

Recently, I did come across a curious little cereal bowl that was marked “Kellems Pasadena”. The bowl features a cartoonish depiction of a bearded man with a slouchy hat, and is also marked “C Bob Clampett”. A quick search reveals that he was a famous but controversial animator who worked for Warner Bros. on Looney Tunes cartoons. I guess he also did side work for Kellems. I didn’t pick up the bowl at the time, because it was heavily chipped, but I did snap a few camera phone pictures of it.

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Note: We've tried to provide as much info as possible on this pottery maker or artist. For further info, you may want to research the items they have on Ebay listed under this name. We've tried to hand tailor the searches below so they will bring up the most accurate results. If there are no results, it will list general California pottery.