Woolley & wallis

NaomiM wrote:That was my hunch too

were standing far left of the shot then?

philpot wrote:
 
A large part of the Studio section consisted of multi-lots from the remainder of the collection of Cambridge Don John Shakeshaft. He was a huge collector for many decades, and at his death the majority of his vast collection went to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The remainder appeared at this Wooley and Wallis collection. Some of the lots were ridiculously large, with most of them having real gems amongst the run of the mill stuff.

John was a regular customer of mine and I remember going to visit him at his home to view the collection one day. I think the real thing that sticks in my mind is that after viewing he started to talk about his Hans Copers to which I replied that I hadn't noticed them. We had to go look again and there they were hidden at the back. That's the mark of a real collector, I suppose - recently bought things at the front. He cooked a very fine lunch too.

Another of my customers has done what I assume is a similar "deal" with the Fitzwilliam in that upon his death they get his collection, keep what they want and dispose of the rest and keep the proceeds to help fund the Museum.

ppcollectables wrote:We viewed earlier in the week and left some commission bids. Picked up some Moorcroft and others quite cheaply. Left bids on some of the studio pots lots because we liked the look of them ( never heard of most of the potters ) but was amazed by the high prices some made. Guy Sydenham vase was nice but 4 thou seems a very high price, personally I didn't think it was that special but as I didn't bid on it I'm obviously not qualified to comment.

I found this old image showing Guy at the time that vase was made

philpot wrote:Phil Rogers is named as an expert advisor in that very process of sorting. Said process is giving the Fitzwilliam a very impressive studio pottery collection. Much better than the Oxford Ashmolean which only really has the collection of the owner of the famous Oxford Gallery. Cambridge seems fortunate in having dons and graduates who are interested in craft and willing to donate. They have recently published a superb catalogue illustrating the gifts of over 120 pieces of modern craft to the Museum by Nicholas and Judith Goodison. Much high quality modern studio pottery

The reason that John originally bought some large pieces of work from potters he admired (Lisa, Nic, Svend, Phil etc.) and donated them to the Fitzwilliam while he was alive was because, like me, he thought the Goodison's had no taste whatsoever when buying studio pottery. The reason for my visit to John's house was to take a friend to meet the Head of Ceramics at the Fitzwilliam there with some of his donations (Patrick Sargent, Dan Kelly & Micki Schloesssingk + maybe one more).

It was really to restore the balance of what modern studio pottery that collection contained, as he didn't want people to think that studio pottery collecting in the early 21st Century was centred around Richard Slee and de Waal.

I think that sums it up very well. The Crafts Council's COLLECT and the like have much to answer for.

Basically it means if you are an artist, potter or craftsperson and have a gallery with money behind you then you become important, irrespective of if your work is good or not.

28 March

http://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/departments/20th-century-design/da290317

Quite a few bits of studio, but are they having a laugh with the watcombe teapot?
I've got a box-full somewhere!

The old stuff (late 19th/very early20th) in the auction did seem a little expensive and I am sure some of it was carried over from the last sale. Clarice items I have no idea. But the studio did seem good. I like that I could see some Joanna Constantinidis who I would be tempted to grab if I was more local to the sale or planning to attend.

When I last attended this sale (the time before) nearly the entire studio selection was part of a collection from an single person from Oxford. I think this could be a continuation of that persons collection. Loads of very large mixed lots with obscured marks.

yes there are three or four group lots that I like but only one of them has a decent pic

if there are any Ian Auld fans here who don't like tea pots please let me know ;-)

Mordeep wrote:When I last attended this sale (the time before) nearly the entire studio selection was part of a collection from an single person from Oxford. I think this could be a continuation of that persons collection. Loads of very large mixed lots with obscured marks.  

I thought that initially but looking at the lots and knowing what John (from Cambridge) bought it's not the case. John stuck labels on his pieces with the potter's name as well. I did notice that a number of the pots from the mixed lots appeared on eBay, having been bought by an Oxford dealer at W&W, so there was an Oxford connection.

I used to go to this auction regularly and even to make things easy would stay overnight but haven't been for several years.

https://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/departments/20th-century-design/da210617.aspx

Its a good auction but this month sees a huge amount of art pottery hit the market. We will see how deep peoples pockets are across this sale and Kingham & Orme. We have 66 martin brothers lots in the same week, not sure that has ever happened. If your looking to add a item not sure you will ever get a better choice.

I plan on attending the Wooley Wallis Wed sale anyway, should be fun.

Very happy with what I picked up at the auction. Got to handle a few items from a few makers that I didn't have the opportunity before. Prices varied a lot with some low prices scattered through. The Burmantofts looked stunning together although I didn't see that auction (it was on a different day to the rest of the items). Worth attending for me.

https://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/departments/20th-century-design/da171017.aspx

Studio pottery

https://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/departments/20th-century-design/da131217.aspx

RESULTS
Hmm unsolds and lowish prices, esp on the Poole.

https://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/departments/20th-century-design/da171017.aspx

not the results you would expect from W&W