MAAK CERAMIC ART SALE + Studio Pottery Collecting in general

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/auction-lots/89bc6a10-acb9-45f9-aa69-e2203c7a0be0/lots

Shoji Hamada, and of lot more!

A fairly quiet auction this. With a lot of sales mostly within their estimates and more unsolds than usual. Again there seemed a lessening in the Leach Cardew school. This does seen to be a continuing trend. The sale seems to reflect the quiet state of the most of art market at the moment.
In parallel with this Maak had another auction running. Ceramic Art of the East. Generally Japanese and Korean. There were a large number of unsolds. One wonders if this reflects a lessening of interest in Japanese work which has long been associated with traditional Leach style pottery?

Has the market for studio pottery now peaked?, all the signs are there ,MAAK is normally a good barometer of the market and while all is not doom and gloom there does seem to be a lessening of interest in certain areas.

A change of style interest perhaps? The Anglo/Japanese aesthetic seem to be waning quite quickly as the generations age. Michael Cardew at al seem to be struggling. On t'other hand female potters from the Leach seem well collected. There has been a great deal of Jim Malone and Richard Batterham around lately as well.
             Different generations of course. Smaller and expensive houses bought in your 30's do not encourage pottery collecting.

             Then its just the plain fact that Times and tastes change.

Since the end of the pandemic, I have been winding down the Harlequin Gallery operation and in recent years selling most of my lower end value stock to more local and younger buyers. There are far more young professionals buying studio pottery than there were 10 to 15 years ago, but they generally want functional pottery to use. Some will spend serious money but are more likely to spend that money on contemporary potters of their own age than pots from the past.

The reality is that I still have a few "senior" buyers left although many have passed away or stopped collecting and the ones that remain are buying less, as you would expect. A number of these could well be the people that are buying at Adam Partridge's and becoming part time eBay dealers too. However, I have no desire to buy old pots in the Anglo-Oriental tradition unless I know that I have a specific customer or customers for them. Even then I will be 'picky'.

For example, I sold all of the Batterham pots that I had in late 2022/early 2023 and last year was offered around 25 fresh to the market Batterham pots at a very tempting price but at my age I just couldn't be bothered, especially as it would mean photographing and posting most of them. From my experience, Batterham was the only "Leach school" potter discovered by some of this younger generation before he stopped working and his type of work fits in perfectly with what many of the younger buyers are looking for. Therefore, I think that Richard’s work will continue to sell despite the fact that some of the new collectors had their fingers burnt by falling for the hype put out by one or two people and probably won’t wish to have anything to do with studio pottery in the future. However, if I had been offered a similar number of pots by say, Malone, Rogers, or Dodd I would have said no without a second thought.

Thanks Studio-Pots. Interesting insight.
Think I'm fairly local to you but never made it to the Harlequin, and have yet to make any of the Open Studios unfortunately.

Only started to have the spare cash to start buying in the last couple of years and after having an interest ignited by late 19th early 20th century stuff (MVM, Vyse, Ruskin), then started buying more recent Studio pottery at what sounds like maybe a bit of a high in the market. Biggest buys were some Abdo Nagi's, but next biggest was a large Dodd bottle vase (though having the same last name may have influenced that a bit). Still not pulled the trigger on a Batterham or Plumtree, so a market drop might help me a bit there!

Admittedly only bought via auction or direct from studios so far, and while I'd bought at the previous 3 Maak sales, only half heartedly bid on a few of the lots in the last sale.

In a market that fluctuates dramatically, many collectors are focusing on acquiring pottery they truly love, opting to keep these cherished pieces rather than sell. Others are strategically buying items with the intention of flipping them for profit, using the proceeds to fuel their passion for collecting even further.

Goldmark have well over a 1000  Anglo Oriental studio pieces on their website. Dodd, Rogers, Malone, Matsuzaki, Jean Luc Gerard, etc. All at Ouch prices! Somebody seem to believe in their future!
         Personally I gave up collecting  when we down sized 5 years ago. I have bought 3 pieces in the past 3 years. Peter Hayes, Alan Wallwork and John Maltby. When we downsized the pieces we sold were mostly  the Leach tradition. Casson, Svend Bayer, Mike Dodd, Jim Malone, Phil Rogers etc. Although we kept the Batterham. But it just was not worth the bother of selling once we moved since we did not need the money. Also wrapping fragile pottery items for postage is a pain! We will leave the collection for the kids to sort out!
                Maak and Partridge are quite different markets. Maak more or less took over the collectors market from the likes of Bonhams, Christies and Phillips. The 2008 crash more or less killed the interest that the London auction houses had in studio pottery. Maak is a collector's site, Now based near Reading, and convenient for areas where the mass of studio potter collectors live. London. Southern England, the Cotswolds etc. Mallams in Oxford, Wooley and Wallis in Salisbury have always had a good market for studio pottery.
                 Adan Partridge is a different beastie of course. But what they do, works for them. Its a cheap area for collectors to start. Equally a lot of their items are now bought by Online dealers and to a lesser extent, collectors doing a bit of Ebay selling. In reality of course, most of the collecting moved Online a long time ago. Ebay, Etsy, a bit of cch Facebook market place etc. Since Ebay  reduced their selling charges to a supposed 'Free' there have been a great deal more galleries, and dealers on Ebay. But there is definitely a limit as to what people will pay on Ebay. Not much studio goes over the £1000 mark. But down at the lower end, it is a collector's dream!
             As to the future? Well the same reasons apply for collecting studio pottery,  Its cheap! There is still a desire for hand made items and not most of the miserable crap that fills Amazon et al. It also now has a decent story and history about it. There is also a lot Online.
              Potters to invest in? Who knows the future? Perhaps those with a more individual instantly recognisable style and form? John Maltby, Peter Hayes,  Alan Wallwork, Janet  Leach who knows!

philpot wrote:Goldmark have well over a 1000  Anglo Oriental studio pieces on their website. Dodd, Rogers, Malone, Matsuzaki, Jean Luc Gerard, etc. All at Ouch prices! Somebody seem to believe in their future!
         

It could be that, as the gallery has spent so much time and money in promoting these potters and has them "tied up", that they have no option.

Hedley wrote:Thanks Studio-Pots. Interesting insight.
Think I'm fairly local to you but never made it to the Harlequin, and have yet to make any of the Open Studios unfortunately.

Admittedly only bought via auction or direct from studios so far, and while I'd bought at the previous 3 Maak sales, only half heartedly bid on a few of the lots in the last sale.

When I started dealing I would buy some stock from the top auction houses in London and elsewhere because there was no internet bidding and prices meant that you could offer the pots to the collector at a price that suited you both.

I haven't bought anything from an auction for over 12 years because auction houses are generally where the pots make their real retail market value and this is often at prices that I think are completely crazy. However, in recent years this has got even more bizarre as these prices tend to often be topped on eBay.

Buying directly from the potter's studio is fine but depending on how you do that you might not be offered their "best" pieces as those are usually kept out of the way ( for exhibitions etc.).

However, as a collector you should buy what you like and if for example you pay £100 for a pot you should think that it is worth paying that to own it and once you want to pass it on then anything you get for it, even if it's a tenner, is a bonus. That's always been my advice to collectors throughout my 25 years plus "in the trade". So never any heavy sales pitch from me and my advice is that if you get that then just walk away.

If you do ever fancy coming down to SE18 even just for a chat then please contact me. However, the gallery space is a little crowded at the moment with my vinyl collection and disco equipment.

studio-pots wrote:

philpot wrote:Goldmark have well over a 1000  Anglo Oriental studio pieces on their website. Dodd, Rogers, Malone, Matsuzaki, Jean Luc Gerard, etc. All at Ouch prices! Somebody seem to believe in their future!
         

It could be that, as the gallery has spent so much time and money in promoting these potters and has them "tied up", that they have no option.

Yes indeed, studio very true. But anybody who has been in business knows that dead stock can become as dead as a dodo....It may well be different for galleries. Given the margins and the prestige etc. But Goldmark have had an exceptionally good run on Studio Pots for over 20 years. But when your market has turned, it can turn fast. When do you cut your losses and run? Is the Leach 3d generational market now done for?

NaomiM wrote:I expect Goldmark makes a large majority of it's money on pictures

That's correct and as far as the studio pots are concerned there has been no outlay by the gallery to acquire the stock.

The gallery also spends large sums of money on advertising and therefore is in a position to attract new younger collectors. The work that Goldmark stocks isn't vastly different from what the younger buyers are buying either, except that it is a little more expensive but considerably better in my opinion.

philpot wrote:

studio-pots wrote:

philpot wrote:Goldmark have well over a 1000  Anglo Oriental studio pieces on their website. Dodd, Rogers, Malone, Matsuzaki, Jean Luc Gerard, etc. All at Ouch prices! Somebody seem to believe in their future!
         

It could be that, as the gallery has spent so much time and money in promoting these potters and has them "tied up", that they have no option.

Yes indeed, studio very true. But anybody who has been in business knows that dead stock can become as dead as a dodo....It may well be different for galleries. Given the margins and the prestige etc. But Goldmark have had an exceptionally good run on Studio Pots for over 20 years. But when your market has turned, it can turn fast. When do you cut your losses and run? Is the Leach 3d generational market now done for?

I think the short answer to your question in my opinion is that it isn't done for but because there is so much of it around then buyers are going to be more selective where they buy it from. I also think that the newer collectors are more likely to buy recently produced pots from Goldmark rather than second hand pots from people like myself or most auctions.

Therefore for someone like me, the market is done for.

At this moment on Ebay there are over 80+ Jim Malone pieces, over 70 by Phil Rogers, near 50 by Mike Dodd. That just being a snapshot. That is where all those items at Partridges is ending up. Plus ETSY etc.
In the wider terrestrial auction areas you are seeinga lot more group lots, as knowledge of studio pottery is getting less.

studio-pots wrote:

Hedley wrote:Thanks Studio-Pots. Interesting insight.
Think I'm fairly local to you but never made it to the Harlequin, and have yet to make any of the Open Studios unfortunately.

Admittedly only bought via auction or direct from studios so far, and while I'd bought at the previous 3 Maak sales, only half heartedly bid on a few of the lots in the last sale.

When I started dealing I would buy some stock from the top auction houses in London and elsewhere because there was no internet bidding and prices meant that you could offer the pots to the collector at a price that suited you both.

I haven't bought anything from an auction for over 12 years because auction houses are generally where the pots make their real retail market value and this is often at prices that I think are completely crazy. However, in recent years this has got even more bizarre as these prices tend to often be topped on eBay.

Buying directly from the potter's studio is fine but depending on how you do that you might not be offered their "best" pieces as those are usually kept out of the way ( for exhibitions etc.).

However, as a collector you should buy what you like and if for example you pay £100 for a pot you should think that it is worth paying that to own it and once you want to pass it on then anything you get for it, even if it's a tenner, is a bonus. That's always been my advice to collectors throughout my 25 years plus "in the trade". So never any heavy sales pitch from me and my advice is that if you get that then just walk away.

If you do ever fancy coming down to SE18 even just for a chat then please contact me. However, the gallery space is a little crowded at the moment with my vinyl collection and disco equipment.

Ha, cheers, might take you up on that. :) Will definitely try and make it down to the market when possible.

Splashed out on a few pieces, but don't regret any of them really despite a creeping feeling they'll not be great investments. Most buys have been pretty thrifty though, and while I know the saying goes that you should save up and buy the best you can afford, it's been enjoyable picking up pieces from the cheaper end of peoples work (even if they are small or poor examples) just to get a feel for them.

Admittedly a fair few from Partridges!

When I first started buying studio pottery for myself there was a yellow bowl by Lucie Rie in Contemporary Ceramics for a little under £500, which was a fair amount of money at the time but it was something that I could have afforded. I did ponder but decided to use the money to buy a number of pieces by different potters to get a feel for things. Obviously as an investment it would have been much better to have bought the Lucie Rie bowl and I did think that at the time. However, I don't regret the choice that I made.

I think for you buying things from Adam Partridge's is sensible but I would say that there is nothing like seeing and handling pieces before bidding.

The attraction of Studio Pottery is that it always has been a cheap way of collecting hand made items. In the Maak auctions in particular we are talking about the very high end level pieces, and prices! But truth to say, there are not a huge amount of potters that fetch the high end prices.
There is a huge starting level area where you can still buy individual hand made pieces for what really is peanuts! Ambleside, Briglin, Isle of Wight, Chelsea, Ewenny, Winchcombe,Dart/Dartington just to name a few. There are loads of such type pieces on Ebay.
Equally a lot of the superb pieces by lesser known/less poular potters go for what are what is actually very little money.

I prefer to visit the Potter's studio for a good rummage and a long chat
Sometimes I find some real gems but I always walk away with an education