crackpot

290242006731
is it worth it ,great designer but when does damage limitation apply
Ed

Here's a clickable link for lazy ppl like me :-)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290242006731&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm38%26_nkw%3D290242006731%26_fvi%3D1

Personally, I steer away from anything damaged at all - so, nice as it is, I'd not give 50p for it in that condition.

well Ed i have had the experience of selling great items...and by that i mean designer goodies as well as....mainly english porcelain from 1740...1850 which had cracks and reglued pieces...for a good sum of money.
an example was a weildon figure of a shoe repairer which had slight damage to his tools...and this i sold 10 years ago on sothebys for the sum of 12400.00 english pounds...a great return on the purchase price of 3.00 pounds.
rare english teabowls with damage still get a good price...so its a matter of knowing what is desirable and sought after in the market place which will demand a price...even with damage.
limitation starts and ends with demand at the time i guess.

I think Pip may reconsider her policy regarding damaged pottery now.

Thanks All Ed

dantheman wrote:I think Pip may reconsider her policy regarding damaged pottery now.

Nope, I never ever purposely buy anything damaged - regardless of how valuable or rare something is damage makes it that little harder to sell on and obviously with me dealing in items from the 1950s up to 1979 there are still lots of undamaged pieces knocking about.

i guess in the period frame that Pip is specialsing in i think it stands to reason that theres plenty around without damage...so ofcourse to throw money into damaged stock...unless it is extreme sought after and rare...then yeah i also steer away from such,even more so in switzerland as even a tiny scratch sends them running.
its all about knowing your market and trading accordingly, i also will consider buying a damaged piece to complete a collection(collectors point) till i find a perfect piece.

That's a very good point Norman - and I've done that also, made do with an imperfect piece for my own collection until I can find a pristine one.

All good points , and now if I find the holy grail at a car boot sale and it has a chip in it Iwill buy it (after haggling of course) Ed

I'm of the same opinion of Pip, I rarely, knowing, buy damaged pieces...for me it's all my personal collection. I don't buy to resell, so I would "know" it was damaged and it would bother me greatly. The exception is if I find a really bazaar piece what I buy more for research and reference. Rob

To be honest I think us in general as pottery collectors (my self included, I will hardly ever buy damaged unless I really like it regardless) are far more fussy over condition then in a lot of fields.

Like to me and most of us, unless it is a very rare item, if it's damaged it's just about worthless in general.

In other fields there seems to be more acceptance of imperfections that have come over time.

I think my views have changed a bit over the years ( especially after reading the article by John Bedding ) , obviously it's nice to have things in pristine condition , more so if you are re- selling , but for me ,buying more unique pieces of studio pottery I don't think that having everything perfect is that important and you can also buy peices much cheaper if they have small imperfections , they all display perfectly well so I think it's more in the mindset of the owner than anything else .

big ed wrote:I think my views have changed a bit over the years ( especially after reading the article by John Bedding ) , obviously it's nice to have things in pristine condition , more so if you are re- selling , but for me ,buying more unique pieces of studio pottery I don't think that having everything perfect is that important and you can also buy pieces much cheaper if they have small imperfections , they all display perfectly well so I think it's more in the mindset of the owner than anything else .

Fully agree with you Ed.

But if I but something online as being "perfect" I expect it to be free from chips/cracks, though I can usually tolerate small firing faults.

I don't like some sellers attitudes of "well it's only a small chip/crack" if they said no chips/cracks

Like you say, usually a slightly damaged item will display fine and to many that’s the many reason for buying, so I don’t fully understand why values drop so dramatically in many cases to near valueless, even though I view them the same way

It's all a matter of perspective Potty. If you're the seller then a 'fleabite' is minor and 'does not detract' etc.
On the other hand, if you're the buyer.......

I mean either way, the way slight damage is perceived and relates dramatically to the value of ceramics.

i have bought so many broken or imperfect pieces over the years for my collection simply because I just wanted/NEEDED it for my collection. Even the really bad ones have a place because i know that i as a collector of a particularly factory i simply HAVE TO have it in my collection, no matter what. I'm a complete-ist type of collector, wanting an example of everything the factory produced. If a better condition example of something comes up for sale, then sure, i'll buy that and get rid of the damaged example. Like you Potty, i don't understand people's mindsets when they think a piece of ceramic is near worthless because of minor faults. I think the difference in my thinking is that I tend to forgive bigger faults, the older a piece is because everyone/thing gets more and more knocks over time! If i never bought ceramics without faults, my collection would be miniscule. If you buy slightly damaged goods, at least you'll build a collection quite quickly and can then swap pieces as and when better ones become available.

I know what you mean bistoboy. There's no way I'd call myself a completist as my tastes are too varied to specialise in any particular maker (OK, I do collect Pear Tree Pottery but even then I have to like the piece to buy it), so I have a very eclectic collection, and I will buy a damaged piece if I like it as long as the damage is reflected in the price. Perfection is always going to be preferable and more valuable, but I don't think that a little nick or hairline completely devalues a nice piece as long as it isn't prominent.

Obviously condition wasn't important in this case, the mind boggles, crack-pots indeed

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/23-Leach-Pottery-Tile-Wasters-/120759675736

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18-Interesting-Leach-Pottery-Kiln-Wasters-/120759671820

Maybe they have a sort of naive archeological appeal to the buyer or they could make up some sort of mosaic / stoneware montage but seriously nothing is absoloutely perfect , I have a Robin Welch pot with the RW upside down , Robins Response - It happens , also it is unrealistic to expect perfection after many years , I remember as a kid a neighbour had a sofa , still covered in the plastic cover about 6 months after they bought it , now that's a Crackpot .

I agree with Ed,if someone wants 100% perfection then studio pottery is not for them,better they buy slip moulded factory ware

Some pots are perfection through well planned imperfection in my opinion

but if the glaze get slightly stuck to the shelf of the kiln then it just tells the story of it's birth, it doesn't make it any less attractive imo.
We strive to achieve perfection in the modern Western society but who's perfection? One that looks great to you or one that you are told to judge aprovingly...

dantheman wrote:I agree with Ed,if someone wants 100% perfection then studio pottery is not for them,better they buy slip moulded factory ware

slip molded factory ware often has imperfection particularly sheurich who's quality control was notoriously laxist

To be fair a lot of Moulded stuff was a bit rough in the 60's and 70's hand applied glazes etc., scheurich moulded planters of today are probably a bit more scrutinised.

dantheman wrote:but if the glaze get slightly stuck to the shelf of the kiln then it just tells the story of it's birth, it doesn't make it any less attractive imo.
We strive to achieve perfection in the modern Western society but who's perfection? One that looks great to you or one that you are told to judge aprovingly...

and even the shelf can tell a story this one has since a few sought after pots