odundo at lawrences in crewkerne

hi, Get your cheque books at the ready for two more pieces of the work of odundo at lawrences at crewkerne on the 22nd july in a 19th and 20th ceramics sale.

That is interesting.Any idea where they came from ? Somehow I do thin our cheque books (my grandson asked me the other day 'What is a cheque book?!) will be staying very securely in our pockets. Or more likely stay lost in one of the drawers we put it when we last used it.
Her work has now moved into the stratosphere of modern contemporary Art, where billionaires play games of prestige.
It will be interesting to see what they are like tho.

hi, i must admit i havn't written a cheque for a number of years now and like yourself i think i would struggle to find the book. The information i have is that there is dark burnished vase dated 1984 and a large orange piece 13.5 inches dated 1985, estimates £3000-£5000 and £5000-£7000 , these apparently come from a private studio ceramics collection featured in the sale.

Interesting that the vendors are using Lawrence's. Given that Wooley and Wallis are not far away.

Yes considering the prices her pieces are fetching i would have thought a larger saleroom may have been a better choice but it may have been a deceased estate with the vendors having no knowledge of ceramics or current prices .The estimates are very low but no condition reports are available at present.

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/lawrences-auctioneers-of-crewkerne/catalogue-id-srlawre10155?archivesearch=F
Studio pottery starts in the 20. One of the 2 Odundo looks particularly nice. Interesting to see what price it gets.
Ashraf Hanna, David Roberts, Betty Blandino, Kate Malone are amongst a smattering of studio pottery in the sale. Its an'Design' sale with the usual loads of Moorcroft and bits of furniture and various Design orientated whatnots.
One of the Odundo looks rather nice. But the presentation of them is underwhelming to say the least. It will be interesting to see the realised price.

Hi, The piece i find most interesting is the Ladi Kwali , all the lots have very low estimates and i guess they are there to be sold. There are other items in the sale which are interesting to me such as the small gothic revival cabinet .

The Ladi Kwali looks nice. But in the end, you have the same old problem. The marks are indistinct, and the auctioneers have no real knowledge of studio pottery. How much can you tell from a photo? One of those cases when personal inspection is everything!
Personally I like the David Roberts and Ashraf Hannah. But cos of space, I am being extremely select in purchases now.

I have just got a condition report on the Ladi Kwali pot with 20 or so images , a close up of the mark looks ok but partly obscured by glaze, there is one very small glaze loss to one side. I find this type of pottery very interesting with its abstract depictions of lizards etc.

Back in October 2014 Lawrence had an auction that contained a number of studio pottery items from a deceased estate that had low (come and buy me) estimates. I was tempted to go and did. Drove down and viewed the day before, stayed in a B & B and then hung around all morning until the lots came up. The low estimates had brought many others out and there was bidding on the telephones and internet, which meant that I couldn't get anywhere near buying the lots that I was after. In order not to make it a complete waste of time I did buy a lot that I wasn't really interested in, as I thought I would be able to sell it at a small profit.

That was the last time I ever visited or attempted to buy at auction and if anyone is interested in the super item that I did manage to buy that day....... I still have it.

Was that the Harry Horlick Stringer sale?

I wish I’d been bidding online during the sale of the US studio pottery at Adam Partridge. A lot of it went for a song

philpot wrote:Was that the Harry Horlick Stringer sale?

Yes.

NaomiM wrote:I wish I’d been bidding online during the sale of the US studio pottery at Adam Partridge. A lot of it went for a song

If they were things that you wanted for yourself then there were bargains but most of it was not by names known in this country and, I think, much was not by names known or collected in the States. Therefore buying to resell was a non started unless you wanted to dedicate your life to it.

I did watch a good deal of the Partridge US pottery sale and could have bid but don't have enough years left of my life to take on something like that.

I find lawrences a very helpful saleroom the requests for condition reports are accurate and prompt with many images, in my days of dealing i purchased anywhere i could as long as there was a profit but now i buy only from salerooms as they are the places that offer the items i want ,The very low estimates have to be ignored it normally only indicates that the items are unreserved. I guess the kwali pot is more like £3000-5000 rather than the £300-£500 estimate.

croker wrote:I find lawrences a very helpful saleroom the requests for condition reports are accurate and prompt with many images, in my days of dealing i purchased anywhere i could  as long as there was a profit but now i buy only  from salerooms as they are the  places that offer the items i want ,The very low  estimates have to be ignored  it normally only indicates that the items are unreserved. I guess the kwali pot is more like £3000-5000 rather than the £300-£500 estimate.

I think you are right and I am sure that it is by her. If you want it for yourself then I would think it is something that would hold its value over time, whatever you paid, and would most likely go up in value. There is the direct link with Magdalene Odundo's work and her work continues to be exhibited too.

studio-pots wrote:

NaomiM wrote:I wish I’d been bidding online during the sale of the US studio pottery at Adam Partridge. A lot of it went for a song

If they were things that you wanted for yourself then there were bargains but most of it was not by names known in this country and, I think, much was not by names known or collected in the States. Therefore buying to resell was a non started unless you wanted to dedicate your life to it.

I did watch a good deal of the Partridge US pottery sale and could have bid but don't have enough years left of my life to take on something like that.

I put some absentee bids on, and threw in a few more low-ball ones before the sale 'just in case', and those won.

I remember being online for that one. Suffice to say I shared your experience of everything going too high..

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/auction-atrium/catalogue-id-2803911/lot-10115957

This one went for £2500 11 years ago, Which is the highest rice for her sold work on the Saleroom. It will be inteteresting to see how good the market is for her work now. The Nigerian economy is expanding a good deal, one wonders of they will be trying to repatriate their own cultural objects like the Chinese have done.
Ludicrous estimate of course. Auctioneers claim this is done for 'come-on' bids and attract purchasers. Maybe so. But on the other hand if the item gets damaged in their care, they only will pay out on their lowest estimate. Saves on insurance costs!

https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/search/cce77831-8337-e811-80c2-0003ff3952e8?keyword=ladi%20kwali

Variable on Maak.

hi, The highest price for one of this type of her pots that i can find was £8125 in bonhams may 2013 ,a more recent price was £5687 in march 2019 .I find her work fascinating , the short video online shows a true craftsperson at work creating one of these water carriers while in a standing position,I will certainly be in the bidding on the day.

Good luck! It will be very interesting to see the hammer prices. Is a bargain still possible?

I think bargains are unlikely but we live in hope.

Actually waiting for an expensive fragile purchase sent by courier would give me kittens. Given fragility, one always thinks the worst.

Hi, After one experience a couple of years back i now never use inhouse packing offered by auction rooms. The guy who collects from MAAK is very good and actually opens the parcel on your doorstep so you can check it over.