SECLA (Portugal)

http://www.millersantiquesguide.com/items/145692/portuguese-secla-studio-pottery/

Somewhat inflated...

I've had a few pieces of Secla, mostly the green moulded leaf pieces, but most of it has been sold on. Without giving too much away, I believe that a member of this very forum now has one of them, bought through a well-known site quite recently, only this wasn't a leaf-piece. In fact, I'm not even sure that it was Secla, but either way I'm really pleased that it has gone to somebody who will appreciate it.
Bryan.
ps. if you recognise yourself as the buyer please don't say too much, I wouldn't be comfortable having our (my wife and I) auction site account-name published here, it just sort of feels 'wrong', like I'd be advertising or something.

the perils of posting at 2.13 am
Totally potty!

Not that potty Dan, it's the middle of the day for an insomniac like me (that's me, at any time of the night!), though I confess I can come across a little at times.
Anyhoo, by a 7.5 billion to 1 chance, one of the regulars here is almost certainly the person who bought a pot from us in one of our 'clear-out' auctions.
Just for context, we're not dealers, we just have the contents of our last home, a big 3-storey Victorian job, stashed in every nook and cranny of our very small bungalow, garage, shed, friends houses etc. so much has to go; it's just a slow process with us both being to some extent, and as the pieces that I'll be posting here are pieces that are not going to auction, there's little point in our user-name for the auction site to come up here. I certainly don't want folks here thinking I'm using you as a kind of price guide.
I'll have a root through my old pic files; if I still have a shot of the pot in question I'll add it to this thread.

R.Ferrao wrote:I'm trying to complete these sets but the pieces are difficult to find as they were not produced in large quantities.

I really like these, when do they date from?

Potty Primate wrote:I've had a few pieces of Secla, mostly the green moulded leaf pieces, but most of it has been sold on. Without giving too much away, I believe that a member of this very forum now has one of them, bought through a well-known site quite recently, only this wasn't a leaf-piece. In fact, I'm not even sure that it was Secla, but either way I'm really pleased that it has gone to somebody who will appreciate it.
Bryan.
ps. if you recognise yourself as the buyer please don't say too much, I wouldn't be comfortable having our (my wife and I) auction site account-name published here, it just sort of feels 'wrong', like I'd be advertising or something.

Hi Mr Primate!
I'm pretty sure you're talking about me, nobody else buys SECLA, hopefully... Please show as the mistery pot!

Hi Davee, these were produced during the 1950s, it's difficult to know the exact years. Maybe you can find some of these pieces abandoned at a flea market, that would be great!

I'm on the look out!

Hi Rita. Yup, I recognised your surname. I've had a look through and do have a pic left, I try to keep at least one for future reference where possible.



So, is it Secla as I thought?

Hi there! yes, it's a such small world.
This goblet was produced by SECLA in the late 60's and was made in several diferent colours. This is in fact a much darker blue than your picture shows and it's a glaze with very nice metalic tones, this tipe of glaze it's now forbidden by the European Union. It's not marked SECLA it's only marked "foreign", that can happen as these pieces were sometimes produced for diferent labels who usualy add a sticker to the base. If you find some more SECLA pieces, please send me a note, of course I'm only interested in the modernist ones, usualy with geometric or abstract designs.

Really glad you like it, Rita. Any idea what the problem was with the glaze that got it banned? I didn't think it was lead-glazed, so can only assume there was another metallic element in the mix.

SECLA used to produce several pieces for Casa Pupo during and 60's and the early 70's. Sometimes the items are only marked "made in Portugal" and have the typical Casa Pupo sticker with a fish logo, and other times they were directly marked in the factory, like this 16 cm fish dish:

Here is the sticker:



Casa Pupo - THE LANES, DRUIDS HEAD, BRIGHTON (from a 60's postcard)



Maybe someone can give me some information about Casa Pupo as I don't know much about it.

Potty Primate wrote:Really glad you like it, Rita. Any idea what the problem was with the glaze that got it banned? I didn't think it was lead-glazed, so can only assume there was another metallic element in the mix.

All the glazes with heavy metal percentages, lead, red lead, zinc and so on, were banned for being considered toxic. I really love the old glazes, even if they are cancer causing, they are much more interesting to look at and have a richer wide of colours and reflections.

This is the kind of sgraffito vase produced during the 50's and 60's to the US market.


© MAFLS


© MAFLS

These pictures come from http://mfls.blogs.sapo.pt/
with permission.

Hi, this is a SECLA (Portugal) piece from the 70's or early 80's, not so good as the ones they made in the 50's and 60's. Rita

For the ones who like fruit pyramids, here's one from the 60's made by SECLA. It has more interesting colours and better quality glazes.





This is an earlier mark, the logo with the S inside a vase shape was used during the 80's and early 90's.

A Ferreira da Silva panel depicting a boar, produced in Estúdio SECLA in 1968 for the D. Afonso II Inn, Alcácer do Sal, Portugal.

that's so good it's almost spiritual!!

Are you serious Dan? That's a strong reaction...

yes I'm quite serious,the stunning colours around the boar coupled with the textured clay bring to mind the energy eminating from all living things,for me the panel is a great piece of art

I can see what you mean Dan, there's a very primitive feel to the symbolism used; I particularly like the depiction of the heart.
It brings to mind the Lascaux and Altimera cave art, and it's probably the type of thing that Cro-Magnon man would have produced had he had later technology

Are Secla and Holkham related in anyway (business wise)? Today I found to Secla mugs that were exact facsimiles of Holkham Owl Eye mugs

Jeffingtons wrote:Are Secla and Holkham related in anyway (business wise)? Today I found to Secla mugs that were exact facsimiles of Holkham Owl Eye mugs

Hi, is this the mug?
I'm asking because I only know Holkham mugs without the eyes. This shape of mugs was produced by many diferent factories.
This one is made by SECLA, that also made it without the face.

Davee wrote:I'm on the look out!

This one is for Davee:

Just found a few more pieces of the set, a tête-à-tête in its original packaging.
Two coffee cups, two saucers, a sugar pot and a milk jug: