19 Rare Vintage Cookie Jars (Worth, Features & More)

I remember the good old days when I used to help my mother as she baked my favorite cookies. Right from the furnace, the cookies would go into a ceramic masterpiece, an old cookie jar.

Having such vintage biscuit barrels on my shelf always makes me nostalgic. If you’re also looking for a rare vintage cookie jar with a unique story tagged along, this list is just for you!

How to Spot Vintage Cookie Jars That Are Rare?

Old and vintage cookie jars will obviously have a handmade touch to them. But apart from rough edges, uneven painting lines, and raw designs, these features are what makes them rare:

• Expensive materials like porcelain, silver, gold (gilded), & ceramic
• Unique animal-shaped jars & animal themed designs
• Figurials or thematic designs of famous cartoon characters or public figures
• Part of a special, limited edition collection of renowned franchises
• Marks of brand names, logos, model or serial numbers, origin, etc

A List of 19 Vintage Cookie Jars Worth Money

Here are 19 exclusively rare, valuable cookie jars your cabinets are waiting for!

1. Antique Silver Hand Cut Glass Cookie Jar 

This rare antique cookie jar from the 1880s is a lavish piece, thanks to its silver-plated and cut glass body. Apart from unique geometrical cut glass patterns, you’d see a finely detailed carved hinged lid on top and a round-legged base.

Special Features to Verify: 

• Ornate hand-carved scrolling design and bead border on the lid
• Floral design and beaded border on the base
• A beaded frame around the glass jar

2. Brayton Laguna Accordion Player Woman Jar

Being a special model from the first pottery company to get the license to create Walt Disney character figurines, this Brayton Laguna jar is one of the rarest. It is designed as a pretty lady playing accordion.

Important Features to Look For: 

• Accordion lady with black hair 
• Disney-style ruffled white, turquoise, & black dress with floral patterns
• A printed bandana on the head

3. Holt Howard Smiling Tiger “Friends” Cookie Jar 

Millennials must remember that iconic smiling tiger jar from Monica and Rachel’s kitchen in Friends! Yes, although the model is not the one from the set, it’s a limited edition Holt-Howard jar marked Japan!

Important Features to Look For: 

• Raised features on the body like eyes & nose and carved smiling mouth
• Two opposite D-shaped pits on the lid to make the handle
• “HOLT-HOWARD,” “1973,” “JAPAN,” and No. 2686 engraved at the base

4. McCoy Davy Crockett Cookie Jar

A special vintage jar from a prominent brand, this 1950s McCoy Davy Crockett Jar can be spotted with its female figurial face. The hair of the figurial makes the lid of this unique cookie jar.

Key Identification Features: 

• Marked USA 
• Hand-painted figurial face designs with red lipstick
• Braided hairstyle

5. Philip Ashberry’s 1850s Silver Plate Biscuit Barrel 

A dream of every antique silverware lover, this silver plate jar looks fantastic with its tapered, bell-shaped body! You’ll also see tiny round legs at the bottom and a lion-rampant handle at the top of the lid/barrel.

Special Features to Verify: 

• Body covered in engraved celebratory garlands motifs, floral patterns, and cartouches
• Two loop handles held by mythological goat-like creatures carved on the sides 
• Purity and brand marks at the bottom

6. Vintage Henry Cavanagh Yellow Cab Ceramic Jar

A Henry Cavanagh’s limited edition, this cab-shaped jar looks vibrant with its yellow body, black print, and silver-colored details. As marked at the base, the edition had only 200 pieces in the run, making it highly sought-after.

Key Identification Features:

• B/W checkered border around the jar’s mouth
• Limited edition model name “Yellow Cab Co.” printed on the sides of the cab (Big City Cab Co. 
• “H. Cavanagh Ceramicar” printed inside the lid & on the bottom
• Model no. “43/200” printed on the base

7. Rare USA Pig Collectable Cookie Jar

This adorable pig figurial cookie jar hails from the USA. It features an adorable piglet wearing a light blue scarf and a black hat, which makes the jar’s lid. The hand-painted features of this jar make it valuable!

Notable Features to Verify: 

• Black/Dark blue paws & tail and light pink blush on the face
• USA marked near the tail

8. Unique Cauliflower Lady McCoy Cookie Jar

Another rare McCoy cookie jar you may not see often! This glazed ceramic jar can be identified with its unique character of a black Mammy holding a basket of cauliflowers in her hand.

Unique Features to Spot: 

• Features a white dress, a red sash, & a yellow bandana around the head
• “Cookies” embossed on the jar in yellow
• “McCoy” marked at the bottom

9. Rare Wedgwood Yellow Jasperware Biscuit/Cookie Jar

This rare Jasperware jar displays a pastel yellow body with an intricate relief-sculpted black (dark gray) wavy border of a grapevine and black lion masks. The ovoid jar comes with a flat lid with a pointy tomb.

Special Features to Spot: 

• Silver plate lid with a hinged handle 
• “J” and “Wedgwood” carved at the bottom
• EPNS marked on the metal handle and lid

10. Mid-Century McCoy Pottery Oak Leaf Corner Jar

This unique corner-style cookie jar from McCoy is shaped like an oak with its leaf. It features beautiful shades like off-white, warm green, and brown, justifying its Mid-Century make.

Special Identification Features: 

• Triangular corner jar
• Ornate handmade details on the lid and oak leaf
• Free-standing base
• USA marked at the bottom

11. Red Wing King Of Tarts Cookie Jar

This rare Red Wing cookie jar looks extremely unique with its design of a king holding a bag of “tarts” with its crown as a lift-off lid. The jar offers stability as the king is designed in a sitting position with his legs crossed.

Key Features: 

• A scepter in the right hand of the king
• Hearts printed around the crown, geometric patterns on the clothes
• “RED WING USA” marked engraved at the bottom along with Red Wing Pottery’s printed logo

12. Rare Shawnee USN Sailor Boy Cookie Jar

This special USN cookie jar is a must-have for army-lover collectors! Designed as a cute chubby sailor, this jar features minimal floral motifs on the sailor’s white and blue uniform, adorned with a scarf and a Dixie Cup hat.

Notable Features to Look For: 

• U.S.N printed on the front of the hat, GOB (Good Ole Boy) printed on the side
• A shiny golden scarf around the neck
• USA marked on the base

13. Lefton Pink Poodle Chef Jar

This adorable Lefton cookie jar features the head of a cute poodle chef. It’s made of ceramic and is hand-painted with baby pink shades, topped with a white toque as the lid’s handle.

Special Features to Verify: 

• Curly pink hair on poodle’s head
• Marked ‘Japan’ at the base
• Detailed hand-painted features like eyes, lashes, muzzle, & mouth
• A blue lace around toque (chef’s hat)

14. Royal Worcester English Porcelain Gilded Cookie Jar

Flaunting its bright off-white body and a gleaming golden handle, this jar is worth a spot in your collection! Accompanied by a matching gilded underplate, it displays beautiful gilded floral motifs all around.

Identification Features: 

• Matte finish
• Royal Worcester’s hallmark, the letter ‘a,’ and product number printed at the base of jar & saucer
• Lid featuring a matching floral pattern with golden handle & border

15. Vintage Disney Bambi Cookie Jar 

This rare vintage cookie jar will make you nostalgic! Featuring a classic white body, this jar features the beloved character from the 40s, Bambi, and his friends. You will also see some hand-painted colorful flowers.

Key Features to Spot: 

• Lift-off lid with a knob with Bambi painted on it
• “Walt Disney Productions” printed on the jar and “860” marked at the base

16. Vintage Nickelodeon Nick at Night Cookie Jar

Are you a fan of Nick@Nite? Then this vintage Nickelodeon’s special cookie jar is for you! Made in the 1990s, this jar is shaped like a vintage TV with “Nick at Nite” painted on the screen.

Special Features to Verify: 

• One of the limited edition collections with only 4000 models made in the 1993 holiday season
• Hand-painted and hand-finished
• A cute vase (handle) on the lid 

17. Rare Hand-Painted Metlox Humpty Dumpty Jar

This adorable Humpty Dumpty Jar is a hard find! Manufactured by Metlox, you can spot this jar with its unique form of Humpty Dumpty sitting on a block. The figurial jar is wearing a white & blue coat, a yellow scarf, and a white & yellow hat as the lid.

Key Features to Identify: 

• Detailed hand-painted features & thematic clothes
• “METLOX,” “CALIF,” & “USA” engraved at the bottom
• Rough-edged on the jar’s mouth

18. Carlton Ware biscuit barrel; Wiltshaw & Robinson cookie jar

This rare Carlton Ware cookie jar will surely grab your attention with its hand-painted off-white porcelain body and silver plate lid. The jar is hand-decorated with beautiful floral motifs in soothing colors.

Special Features to Verify: 

• Beautiful roses hand-painted in pastel colors
• Metal lid with jointed uniquely shaped handle

19. Vintage Clay Art Marilyn Monroe Cookie Jar 

This Marilyn Monroe-themed cookie jar from the 1990s is surely a rare piece! Featuring a detailed, hand-painted Monroe figurial with a white top and wavy blonde hair, this unique jar is worth a bid.

Valuable Features to Spot: 

• Realistic features like blue eyes, thin brows, red lipstick, & red painted nails
• Lid at the back
• CA carved and Marilyn Monroe signature tag printed at the bottom

Cookie jars are nostalgic in themselves. When you add a rare vintage cookie jar to your shelf, it will outshine like nothing else. So, pick your favorite cookie jar from this list now. But why just cookie jar? Find the rarest antique dishes, too, to upgrade your collection!