Pottery Values N'stuff

How do you value a piece of pottery ? monetary or otherwise , money wise , I see ceramics like Carn going for hundreds of £'s , but only if it has a blue or red spot !, i see troika , moulded repetitive pieces going for the same , it is a strange old world this pottery lark , I myself favour studio pieces and have spent probably too much on some things , I don't know time will tell , why is moorcroft so highly valued ?, over say your local potter , reputation , perhaps , history , definitely , but at the end of the day it's what someone will pay I suppose , it just seems topsy turvy to me , I cannot for the life of me see why Clarice cliff who had sod all to do with the majority of the wares , never even seen them , or God forbid the demand for keith murray ( turned on a lathe ) Likewise , are so collectable , Bjorn wiinblaad or what ever his name is ,with one little design is another that springs out of my mind , yes I konw it's all about personal taste blah, blah , I think most of the stuff that is considered collectable is pure hype , advertising at its best and very little to do with anything else , ....................but I could be wrong

Its fashion Ed, apart from Clarice Cliff you can hardly give 30's ceramics away nowadays. When I first started buying, anything deco was selling, Carlton Ware, Sylvac etc.. nobody wants it now.

And your right about hype, you only have to watch FlogaBargainintheAtticrealdeal everday to see them parade Troika, Whitefriars, Moorcroft and Clarice Cliff.

You might be right Dave , fashion , style could have a lot to do with it , i sometimes wonder if it's just that the powers that be ,have loads old crap to offload and in their wisdom deem it fit to spew it on the public as vintage ! collectable / whatever , sylvac you mention , I mean , really it's as naff as it gets , but add a designer name, and presto ! clowns will follow , lets face facts the majority of buyers go by what is in books telly etc . unlike most on the forum who are a bit more savvy .

there are different reasons for high prices on pottery one is the number of people who want to collect a particular potter so it may be fairly common but have lots of people after it pushing up the price what seems to be happening at the moment is lots of people follow the online auctions so what sells on ebay becomes desirable people see something in a bootfair say I can make a profit on ebay resell it thereby perpetuating the circle buying what you like that has no resell value is very rare unless its cheap. I think ebay has more effect than the tv shows

I agree ebay has a large effect , but possibly sparked by certain tv progs , magazines etc. we are told / guided/ persuaded as to what is desirable by brands / names / must haves and so on , left to our own accord I doubt much of the stuff being bought would even be heard of.

Waves, waves ,waves. In Germany in the 60s and 70s, people loved "Fat Lava".
In the 80s the taste went against buying it. In fact everyone started to hate the stuff, that's why so many firms went bankrupt at that time. Today in Germany, WGP "Fat Lava" is making a come back. The book from Malcolm Gladwell "The Tipping Point" explains these social epidemics very well.

I agree things do come in waves , but these waves are caused by another force , I think if there is an interest in fat lava in germany it was caused by the revival over hear , because before the fat lava exhibtion you could still by the stuff for peanuts and at car boots , I believe the hype around certain wares is created before the actual goods are flooded on to the market , for example , if a tv prog or magazine promotes a type of glass say , then you can be damn sure somebody has a pile of the stuff hoarded up ready to flog .

very nice chap that though he is, i blame Mark Hill et al. It's the taste of high-profile individuals who are able to promote particular wares on tv programmes that influences wider taste. Along with his interest in mid20thC German ceramics, his (and some others) influence in glass is having an impact: Czech glass and Mdina glass etc are burgeoning in the antiques fairs now. The fact that he has such a large input into the Miller's Guide must also have some impact. He has blogged that he collects Ambleside pottery as he likes the style..... and then, wouldn't you know it, there's more and more Ambleside in the latest Miller's guides. The same with Metalware and the Conrah phenomenon. Prices have jumped almost overnight since it was included in Mark's Cracking Antiques programme and then put in the Miller's Guide. I personally hate/detest/ABHOR alot of the Fat Lava type German pottery and there are loads of people jumping on the bandwagon who have no aesthetic appreciation for it, but realise it's new monetary potential. Tastes and fads don't just evolve of their own accord, they need a catalyst, and at the moment, the catalyst is TV shows and experts.

I like to follow my own instincts as well , some obscurish studio potters albeit a tad expensive are what I enjoy most , none of them have had telly or huge magazine exposure , so that is for myself , I will buy something I know will hopefully make a profit ( even if I hate it) to fund the other stuff, the fat lava phase at the moment , most of it is just rubbish , but like all things some higher quality designed stuff rises to the top .

those tv people do follow trends they don't just invent everything lets face it if something you bought cheap because"you liked it" becomes worth a fortune generally you are pleased and feel vindicated in your choice, if on the other hand the price drops and you see them every where unsold and even your friends family and clients think its rubbish you end up not "liking it" quite as much in the long run

That's true up to a point , but the more involved you get in this game, the more savvy ( hopefully) you become , if you buy because you like it and the prices go down or whatever it's irrelevant , you have bought to your taste , granted tastes can change over the years , I never pay any attention to family and friends advice on pottery buying , most of them wouldn't know an egg cup from the holy grail , no , I do think it's big business (andvery clever businessat that ) that starts trends / Brands are catching imo.

if thats so Ed then a forum like this should be able to make an unpopular pottery into a best seller any Ideas?

That would be an interesting experiment, go for it

xx

[quote="tenpot"]if thats so Ed then a forum like this should be able to make an unpopular pottery into a best seller any Ideas?[/quo

te] Huh! , How come ? Forums (plural ) do contribute to making certain pieces a success , fat lava in particular , you miss the point , I said the popular stuff is activated by larger companies and also it's not about making something unpopular popular , it's about bringing a fresh look to certain areas of collecting , i know where I stand on it , they day I start making a loss , or fall out of love with my stuff , I'll pack it in , flogging dead horses is not what's it's about .

How about Chessell Pottery, Isle of Wight? In 1979 I bought a stunning large blue glazed bowl with clusters of small mushroom-like flowers "growing" up from inside. It is brown on the underside and has a metallic ring when you tap it. I used it for floating candles and it was admired on many occasions.
I found a small spherical matt off-white version in the 1990s, second hand, and a further couple of similar small pieces. I think the Pottery may have closed a few years ago, which does not surprise me because they were producing sickly crap designs such as eggs with baby dinosaurs heads sticking out!
I'm surprised cp's early stuff hasn't caught on - maybe I could start a trend?

Well, I seem to have cut that discussion dead. Sorry about that. I'd better leave it to the usual suspects to carry on the banter without my contributions.

No , No , carry on , the more the merrier

I had a mild case of throwing my dummy out of the pram! I had to wait in a queue to lodge my posting and suddenly at 6pm the thread snapped. I thought my opinion would have been the first of many - it's an interesting topic - but sadly, so far, it's drawn a blank. What a shame.

err?? I just posted a long post and it lost it! grr
well, all I wanted to say in nutshell was - I buy what I like. I couldn't buy something unless it had that 'must have' factor for me. Sadly for me, my tastes aren't quite as saleable as other peoples I wish they were, so I could fund my collecting when I've grown tired of things or found something better.
Chessell pottery - I've just sold a gorgeous piece and I've seen a couple of pieces I really love (and lots I cannot stand). They are exquisitely made pieces of porcelain that photos do not do justice to. Everyone who saw the bowl I sold, made positive comments and gushed over it regardless of their aesthetic tastes. I think it will become very collectable (lol, I can't wait to see if I am right for once )
m

How about you show me yours and I'll show you mine!
About 10 years ago I wrote to Chessell pottery (regarding my 1979 piece)and I received a leaflet saying they were closing down and selling their wares at reduced prices - I didn't buy any! Having checked the Web the company is back in business and there's even mention of their pieces being "collectables" - my goodness, that was quick!

gosh - I really do have that x factor
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I have two on show; the others are in a box somewhere. Yours is very like my smaller one. Take a look. Unfortunately pics do not do the items justice. The large bowl is 10cm high and 31cm wide!

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ooh lovely blue - I think mine was about half the size of that. I have to confess I prefer the matt ones, but maybe thats because I've only seen beige/cream shiny ones. That blue is wonderful

Anyone out there prepared to stick their neck out and give a prediction as to what could be the next Troika or Moorcroft? I own four pieces of Troika - and I am proud of it - the first being a 9in tall square section vase costing under £3.00 over 12 years ago. I bought it because I liked it and had never heard of Troika. The same with vintage Carn, whose prices are creeping up as we speak. The same with vintage Hornsea Springtime. I bought recently at a local car boot sale for £1 a dirty spherical pot. Don't know why but I bought it. Cleaned it up, saw CW or WC on the base so looked it up on the Internet and there it was CW Connie (Conny) Walther a Danish potter whose similar pieces sell for £100-120. I see interesting pieces by Louis Hudson and wonder should I buy his work while they are going for reasonable prices in a well-known auction site. Ummm, I think I just might.

I'm not convinced there will be another big fad like the Troika fad,or at least not for a while.
As I see it the market is very fickle these days so what is ' in' this year may not be in 12 months time.