STUDIO POTTERY OR ART POTTERY

I have never considered myself an art pottery collector but often find my favourite pottery by searching online for art and not studio pottery. So what  separates the 2 categories ?

Functionality? Quite a lot of mugs you couldn't use because of their shape or extra twiddly bits added to the basic form.

I never considered that aspect

Big difference, but many Auction houses, dealers and Ebayers confuse the two.

Art pottery, c1870-1930s, from larger potteries, experimental glazes,
some artistic design.

Though 60s Poole could be cosidered in this category aswell.

Dan ,I'm sure you must feel that your Guy Sydenham pieces are Art Pieces , fact is some pieces can be both- Studio /Art , I personally tend to see the artistic value in a pot either in the sculptural form or the decor , painted or applied , preferably both , I hate the term functional as it it quite meaningless ,art does have a function in that it decorates and satisfies the looker , just because a teabowl form isn't used for drinking doesn't make it redundant , it's how you look at it that matters , regarding some of my ebay items I tend to list most as "studio art pottery" but that only for prominent search words .

I'm pleased it's not just me who finds the lines a little blurred

Funnily enough I don't blur the two.

To me Art pottery was a distinct phase that came out of the Aesthetic movement, it kicked off in the early 1870's with the likes of Minton Kensington Gore (look it up) and ended pretty much with the first World War. It was an age where rich people often with no skill or experience what so ever set up art pottery companies to manufacture ceramic art. Linthorpe, Della Robbia, Compton are all examples. It was heavily tied up with the ideals of Aesthetic movement of how something was made but how many people made it. It was common to have many people contribute to one piece of art.

Studio pottery is something very different to me. The first studio potters come out of the Art pottery era with the likes of EB Fishley but unlike Art pottery they are not tied to a defined time period. They continue from the 1880's until now. I see studio as hand made pottery by small groups of people who create from the raw clay onwards. You may have the pot thrown by one person and the design made by another. But I don't regard studio pottery as something made by a large company or involving a huge number of people in the process. But I am no expert so feel free to disagree.

I think Mordeep is right. I think the bluring has come about because people have (particularly on sites like Ebay) used the description "Art pottery" to refer to pieces from any period that have an aesthetic (artistic) purpose rather than a functional one - rather like when people refer to modern orchestral music as "Classical" music, when the term actually has a more precise meaning.

I think when it comes to "art" you can pretty much attach it to anything you like as we have found out from discussions in the past , just because somebody yonks ago decided to label stuff in their view doesn't make them correct , the debates in the past usually end up with someone quoting a famous artist saying things like "well if Picasso said it it must be true then " Studio pottery for me in the main is a one man/ woman job , with very slight variations of .

no you're confusing it with sex again

Let Guy Sydenham explain the difference.

What he did at Poole was Art Pottery.

What he did at Long Island, Quay Pottery etc. was Studio Pottery.

dantheman wrote:   no you're confusing it with sex again

studio-pots wrote:Let Guy Sydenham explain the difference.

What he did at Poole was Art Pottery.

What he did at Long Island, Quay Pottery etc. was Studio Pottery.

I'm pleased you are showing an interest in Guy's work John,have you read his books yet?

I did read A Potter's Life: the Island Potters of Poole some years ago. Looking at the price the book is being offered at I think I should have kept my copy.

Big Ed wrote:I think when it comes to "art" you can pretty much attach it to anything you like

But not "Art Pottery" (as opposed to "art pottery") ..... but at the end of the day the only important thing is whether you like something or not. Labels are for academics, whereas we mortals use them more loosely in order to discuss the things were enthusiastic about.

dantheman wrote:

studio-pots wrote:Let Guy Sydenham explain the difference.

What he did at Poole was Art Pottery.

What he did at Long Island, Quay Pottery etc. was Studio Pottery.

I'm pleased you are showing an interest in Guy's work John,have you read his books yet?

You should have seen his website about a week ago

why?

A Guy Sydenham coffee pot on the front page I noticed

on John's website?