Mallams auction, Oxford 12 Dec 2013

Been having a look at the online catalogue. Some nice studio pots, too rich for my blood sadly  

Then of course there is the Wooley and Wallis of Salisbury auction the previous day,11 December.Similar goodies,and prices!
If you can possibly go,these auctions are a must see.Its the only place you can see,touch,examine and familiarise yourself with a huge range of studio pottery of the highest quality. Mallams have come from nowhere to be now one of the leaders in studio pottery auctions.
This time they have the Rosemary Wren estate sale-some lovely birds! Michael Buckland of Green Dene pottery estate sale.
There are over 500 lots of the highest quality in these two auctions. A gift to your Studio pottery education!
Did most of mine in the Bonhams ones!

Question: We are all aware of the 'come and get me' prices profferd in the catalogue sometimes .... but what do I have to add to the online price?

do you mean charges and vat?

Yes, I put in some low commission bids this time, but there is Buyers premium and VAT on that? Don't think I got anything but they were low bids.  

22 Crawford St. wrote:Question: We are all aware of the 'come and get me' prices profferd in the catalogue sometimes .... but what do I have to add to the online price?

The buyer's commission if you were at the sale was 20% plus VAT so if you bid £200 that would be £248 and if you bid £1000 that would be £1280, as there is 4% Artist Resale Rights to add on as well. If you bid online I think commission is higher.

Went along today and most things of interest went for considerably higher than the estimate and many for considerably more than I could every hope to get from any of my customers. Much auction fever in evidence. I did buy a nice pot though for a reasonable price.

Was it that nice John Bedding vase?

You're having a laugh.

Though for John Bedding that vase was impressive.

Interesting how viewpoints can be different.
One would think that Studio Pots was trying to put people off bidding at auction!  
I was at the Mallams auctions too. Bought a number of things indeed.
As with every auction,it was swings and roundabouts. Sme things went for lots more-although a lot of the estimates were come on one-the Casson jugs in particular fetched high prices..
Did you perchance get the large Michael Buckland vase Studio Pots?
Nice piece.And a genuine bargain! 

It could be said that I have a vested interest in people not buying at auction, leaving all the goodies for myself and fellow dealers to sell on to the public at higher prices but that is for the people who read this thread to decide.

These days I do by and large tend to sell pots by dead or ex-potters and so auction houses are in direct competition to me. That is something that I am not terribly proud of but in recent times efforts to sell current pots by contemporary makers has proved to be a struggle and a boy has to live.

Most of the old pots that I buy come from private individuals, who believe that selling to me is the best deal for them and in most cases it is. That does usually mean that I make some money in the future, although it can be many years down the line. However, I do take the risk of buying the item unlike auction houses and when it is offered for sale by me it is at a specific price and that is the maximum price any potential buyer is going to pay if they buy it from me. I do not add on buyer's premium, VAT or, if applicable, Artists' Resale Rights and will point this out whenever the opportunity arises. I do pay Artists' Resale Rights when applicable but that comes out of my profit not something that I stick on my customers bill like auction houses do.

The other main difference is that I do not give vague attributions to pots. I overheard a conversations at Mallams where one buyer told the other that he had done very well, having bought two Hamada pieces for much less than he was prepared to pay. In reality he had bought two Japanese plates that the auctioneer had suggest might be by Shoji Hamada.

Yes, there were a few bargains at Mallams but not as many as any buyer or potential buyer would have liked and, as I was there primarily with the intention of buying to resell, the Michael Buckland's were not something I considered.

If you really want to know, I bought a Bill Marshall, philpot, so are you going to tells us what you bought?

I thought the Bill Marshall went for somewhat less than they have in years past. Is he falling out of favour? That was a very nice collection the gent from Cheltenham had built up.If I was him I would be slightly disappointed.
Mallams certainly need to up their game. A large Alan Wallwork-an obvious second with the angle grind cross though- not mentioned. An obvious David Jones most weirdly attributed to Colin Pearson etc etc.... Fairly much Caveat Emptor..
Much the same with 'Shoji Hamada'. Unless there is cast iron providence x 3,the risk is too great.
I am a collector primarily. I tend to buy pieces to fill gaps in my collection. So I bought the Denise Wren Owl,which displays lovely.
The Sandy Brown plates. The Marjorie Clinton Lamp cases.All to compliment what I already have. Would have bought some more,but as you said,prices on individual things were quite high.

I think that I recall you flying in for the owl at the last minute but can't remember what you looked like.............. damn.

You did OK with what you bought and I would have expected you to have to pay more in a retail situation that sold those type of pots.

Bill Marshall's work did fetch more at auction before he died and just afterwards when speculators and people who wanted to have one of his pots were around. However, he still has his fans, me included, so I don't imagine having any trouble making a profit and, if I do, then I'm happy to keep it.

Unhappy.... WT??.

"A large Alan Wallwork-an obvious second with the angle grind cross though- not mentioned."

This one.
http://www.catalogue-host.co.uk/mallams/oxford/2013-12-12/lot_162?prev_page=browse%20by%20section%2c%20page%204%20of%205&prev_url=%2fmallams%2foxford%2f2013-12-12%2fcategory_1_page_4
Had a clear cut through the incised initials.I have read thast Alan Wallwork sold a fair number of these with the angle grind slash at Greenwich market before he left for France. A number of Alan Wallwork items like this have been sold on Ebay in the latter part of the year,and several were in a sale up Norf quite recently. In both cases the cut through the signature was mentioned.

philpot wrote:Interesting how viewpoints can be different.
One would think that Studio Pots was trying to put people off bidding at auction!  

As someone who has no vested interest in these sales, I do agree with SP.

The "add on" fees are there to catch people out, auctions do everything possible to reach the highest price they can for their client, i.e. to get the most from commissions / premiums as they can.

Bidding off the wall, "attributions" and the use of other terms that are a bit misleading to unsuspecting buyers.

There can be good buys to be had, but for the less experienced buyers auctions can be pretty risky. Yet auctions have been attracting a lot of the latter in recent years, I suspect a lot of this is due to the way they are portrayed on TV shows.

But then, anybody in life who jumps in at the deep end without knowing the ropes is going to get their fingers burnt!
      Buyer's commission is circa 25%,you just have to allow for it in the bid you make.
      And besides, I like me Owl!  

22 Crawford St. wrote:Unhappy.... WT??.

"A large Alan Wallwork-an obvious second with the angle grind cross though- not mentioned."

Alan spent many hours with angle grinder in hand to score through his signature in order that work that was damaged or had not been successful was clearly marked as a second before he sold them cheaply on Greenwich Market, as philpot states. He hoped that this would prevent unscrupulous people from reselling them as being his accepted work.

although I have seen ropey firsts and superb seconds

In the case of ones that aren't damaged the potter and potential customers aren't going to see eye to eye on every occasion.

I think I recall you having one that Alan has cut through which you are very happy with and JoetheHat, of Alan's website fame, persuaded me to sell him a small porcelain pot that Alan had treated in the same way, which Joe and I both thought was fine.

However, philpot and I were suggesting that it should have been pointed out by Mallams in their catalogue and online description, as at least one auction house recently has. It is then down to any potential customer to make their own decision, knowing that it is a pot that Alan has rejected as a second.

The vase in the Mallams auction didn't appear damaged, although I didn't look that closely, but I could see why Alan had given it the treatment.

If it is true that there was an AW was marked as a second (Lot 162) then it's very poor of Mallams not to mention it in the catalogue. They are not daft.

(Incidentally, I have recently seen two of these AW pieces on a stall, both marked with a line. Dealer wanted £175 and £200)

Mallams of course,have been advertsing themselves as THE place to buy and sell Studio Pottery.They have been running half page adverts in the Ceramic Review saying such all year.
Indeed,from a base of virtually nowhere a couple of years ago,their twice yearly sales are now probably the leading studio pottery
But if you are going to be the best,then surely your standards must be the best? It does not appear that they are.
Another example.There was a nice Alan Caiger Smith Lustre vase,that I was interested in. On picking it up to inspect the base,there was a substantial two inch firing crack in the base that made it useless as a vase. The type of crack that would orginally made it a clear 'Second'.Nowhere was this mentioned. It still went for about £250 thoI Caveat Emptor? Not good enough.