Re: MAAK AUCTIONS.

by **philpot** May 26th 2023, 7:36 am

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/64007f90-b37b-4752-86b0-a8ca284df789/lots
The results of the May Maak sale. £10,0000 seems the Star benchmark now. Lucie Rie £18,000. £62,000.Hans Coper £34,000. JOHN WARD Black pieces £19,000. £20,000 £24,000 Jennifer Lee £30,000. Akiko Hirai. £12,000 £14,000.
In general the Leach school was mediocre. A fair number of unsolds particularly Michael Cardew.
Richard Batterham has gone off the boil. As had John Maltby with several unsolds. Emmanuel Cooper, Henderson went within estimates. De Waal and Rupert Spira did well.
I am going to have to eat my hat. The two Val Barry did well!

by **croker** May 26th 2023, 10:31 am

Morning philpot, I have only just noticed your post as i was about to post myself, i think the interest in Cardew seems to be gradually lessening , with only three of the eleven lots on offer selling , John Maltby seems to be going through a period of readjustment,maybe because of the volume on the market in recent years. The Henderson's on offer were very average and unexciting, John Ward's black and white pots will always be his most sought after and at £24,000 (over £30,000 with premium etc) put them out of reach for most collectors.I thought the Duckworth pieces were interesting but there was a determined bidder on the piece that i wanted. Could you post a pic of you eating your hat.

by **philpot** October 27th 2023, 12:41 pm

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/8351aaaf-920b-4c5b-bddc-67ab665deff6/lots

The latest of the bi-annual Maak auctions is now online. As usual, a very broad selection of the cream of Studio ceramics right across the board. Lots of Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, Lucie Rie, John Maltby, Richard Batterham, Gordon Baldwin, Henderson, John Ward, Edmund De Waal, Akiko Hirai etc. Something for everyone. Provided you can afford it! Not any totally whizz bang items though.

My favourite is the Nicholas Vergette Cat from the early 50's.

by **croker** October 27th 2023, 12:57 pm

A good sale with as you say Philpot something for everyone ,estimates are fairly low as they quite often are in MAAK sales although this normally bears little resemblance to the final hammer prices , some good Henderson, Ward and Baldwin but i think the Jennifer Lee will do well as will the Ladi Kwali, she has included a few token Malones etc but these never seem to fare well in these auctions.

by **philpot** October 27th 2023, 1:53 pm

Low estimates are good for auctioneers of course. Forget that come and buy me guff! Its the lower insurance costs!
Your remarks on Malone etc are interesting. The 3 rd generation Leach potters et al have been the backbone of the very successful Goldmark Gallery for many years. Their very success of course has produced a surplus of these potters on the market.

by **croker** October 27th 2023, 2:08 pm

I also love the Vergette cat but that tail had no chance ,it was made to broken .I have a bit of fondness for this group of potters, there was a large Newland bull charger in the last disaster sale at Chorleys but massively damaged along with many other lots in the sale ,so probably not worth buying , pots from this group rarely seem to turn up at auction although i see studio pots managed to buy a Hine pigeon.

by **studio-pots** October 27th 2023, 2:18 pm

The pigeon was bought privately from a fellow dealer/friend and my only other piece from that group is a stylised vessel form by Nicholas Vergette that I bought from an old customer of mine when he was moving abroad.

by **philpot** November 17th 2023, 10:33 am

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/8351aaaf-920b-4c5b-bddc-67ab665deff6/lots

The results of the latest Maak sale. A bit like the last one. a subdued market with individual high points. £44,000 for a Ladi Kwali (the reclaiming heritage effect?). High sums for individual pieces from Ruth Duckworth, Pleydell Bouverie. John Ward prices still seems in the up with two green banded pieces at £17,000 and £18,000. As usual De Wall sold well
A little patchy in the day to day British studio stuff. The Batterham boom has deflated, similar with John Maltby. Henderson and Baldwin reasonable prices were quite goof, but they had some unsolds.
The market that Maak has is clearly somewhat different from the one that other British studio pottery auctioneers have.

by **philpot** November 27th 2023, 12:41 pm

The final selection from the collection of the vast and important collection from the important American collector John Driscoll. Selections of which have been appearing for several years!
As always, a very high quality sale. Lots of Bernard Leach, Ewen Henderson, and the usual major potters.
https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/00185e27-65bc-47c6-ad78-1455d44ac2d8/lots

by **croker** November 27th 2023, 4:26 pm

hi philpot, In the previous MAAK sale i think there were about 60 or so unsold lots and what did sell fell mainly in estimate or slightly below ,there were always going to be a few highlights ,the b/w ward at £22,000 and the kwali piece at £44,000 but these were the exceptions and overall i thought the sale was a bit low key. As for the present sale it's ok but i think mainly the 'dregs' of the Driscoll collection. It will be interesting to see how Woolly's pottery sale does on the 30th with another offering of Batterham pots 61 lots in all .

by **philpot** November 29th 2023, 10:13 am

I think the general economic climate is now effecting good number of people. It seems as is often at times like these, it is more the mid market that is being affected. In the studio pottery market it is Maltby, Batterham, Wallwork and the like.

by **philpot** December 11th 2023, 11:19 am

The final sale of the Driscoll collection (above) is a clear out Lot. With bidding starting at just £1. I must admit if I Had not stopped collecting, I would be sorely tempted on some of the pieces. Some bargains to be had maybe?

by **croker** December 11th 2023, 1:37 pm

hi philpot, An interesting sale ,it's not very often we get a genuine no reserve sale, there is always the possibility of a bargain at this time of year although i think most pieces will make their money, it will be interesting to see what happens. I think at present the market is a bit jittery and although many items are still making reasonable prices i have been told overall there are less bidders registering.

by **philpot** December 12th 2023, 10:12 am

The economic is beginning to really hurt Grim and getting grimmer. Collecting studio pottery is discretionary spending of course. So its the mid market that seem to be hit most. You can see it reflected on Ebay as well. Presumably if you are in the several thousand upwards bracket, you have the money to spend.

by **studio-pots** December 12th 2023, 12:35 pm

It was only through the comments here that I realised that many pieces were on offer without reserved, so I thought that I would have a little pre Christmas fun and have a few bids. Now I am concerned that I might end up with something that I don't really want albeit at a cheap price. Laughter

by **NaomiM** December 12th 2023, 1:25 pm

I didn't realise it was so close; in Berkshire. Always thought it was in London. I may have a few bids too ....or maybe not. Nothing appealed

by **philpot** December 13th 2023, 7:11 pm

For a long time she used to operate from her own house, which was near Henley. Now She has a proper place near Reading.

by **philpot** December 15th 2023, 6:29 am

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/00185e27-65bc-47c6-ad78-1455d44ac2d8/lots

The results of the recent Maak sale of the last bits of the Driscoll collection sale. Few ultra bargains really. William Newland was cheap. Some of the Ewen Henderson were reasonable buys. But most seemed to get reasonable prices in what is a conservative market at present.

by **philpot** April 12th 2024, 12:21 pm

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/7538c817-7b9a-44ca-ada4-95323337ad1f/lots

The 'Shipley Collection In Private Hands' available to view now. Sale in Mid May. Small High end collection with Hans Coper, Liz Fritsch, Nicholas Homoky, Lucie Rie, Magdalene Odundo, Alison Britton etc, It seems to have been put together mostly in the 80's. One wonders if it has any connection to The Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead. Which has a large collection of studio pottery including the collection of Henry Rothschild.

by **croker** April 12th 2024, 5:10 pm

Some nice pieces and interesting to see some of them displayed in the owners home. A number have some restoration and i can only assume that the small amounts of damage were caused post purchase. I would have been interested in the blue Alison Britton but even the smallest piece of restoration puts me off these days ,5% extra premium due to the importation from the US

by **philpot** April 26th 2024, 9:07 pm

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/d03448f2-bc98-4bbc-90b7-e402dffd90b2/lots

The latest Maak catalogue. Bidding in Mid May. The usual high quality field. But perhaps a little samey. Too many lots by some potters. 15 by John Ward for instance. Plus more than 10 each of Richard Batterham, Edmond De Waal, Lucie Rie and Henderson. 5 potters with 60+ items out of a 266 item sale.

by **croker** April 26th 2024, 11:30 pm

I always look forward to the Maak sales , the quality is always there and the condition reports are accurate unlike some others i could mention. With both auctions operating at the same time this adds up to quite a major sale. As is normal for MAAK sales the estimates are quite low . The Henderson's are fairly ordinary and there have been far too many of his 'tea bowls' on the market in recent times , i must admit to have bought quite a few but have now stopped . The Wards look interesting and i have no doubt they will all find buyers.

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