MOST households these days will perhaps have an umbrella or two on standby for those rainy days that are all too frequent, and the usual place for the umbrella is perhaps in a hall cupboard or perhaps in the porch.

A century or more ago, the umbrella was a much more important item, given that most people had to walk further and rely on public transport rather than the car. So it was obvious that with a household having several umbrellas for uses by the whole family, then a special container would be needed to hold these items.

So the umbrella stand was created, in many different forms, and it was an essential household item for about a century, starting around 1850.

There was a huge array of different designs using materials from cast metal and sheet brass through to wood and pottery. I have even seen elephants' feet preserved and reused as an umbrella stand!

Today, as more and more people restyle their homes with a period look, demand for umbrella stands is on the increase and they are being put to the original purpose as a decorative and practical item for the hallway.

Prices will vary greatly from about £30 for a simple wooden framed example, through to several hundred pounds for elaborate pottery versions.

Whatever the material, some designs were just a tall cylinder into which you popped the umbrella. Others made of metal or wood would have a removable drip tray in the base.

Most umbrella stands featured some sort of decorative design with the pottery example sometimes having floral patterns or even landscapes scenes

. Metal ones could have embossed or cast designs, usually of foliage or even featuring animal figures.

Fairly routine examples in wood and metal, typically priced at £30 to £60 around the antiques trade, but ornate, elaborate examples, whatever the material, can quickly run to £200 or £300, and in the case of examples by specific identifiable manufacturers, then if a design is interesting, values can quickly go to £500 plus.

For example, the umbrella stand illustrating this article is made by the noted pottery firm of Bretby and its owl formation makes it particularly appealing to collectors. Its value would certainly be at least £800.

If you look around the antiques shops, fairs and auctions, you will see lots of different examples of umbrella stands, and while nobody's going to collect them as such because you would need an awful lot of room to display them, they are enjoying a revival of interest thanks to the boom in property market and TV programmes such as Changing Rooms, urging people to redecorate in Victorian and Edwardian styles.