WITHER THE LEACH TRADITION NOW?

You should have bought the ones that I flogged in the last few months but you're too late now!!!!

In the last year there have been North American collectors contact me about pots within the Leach tradition by the names mentioned here. This hadn't happen for 5 or more years and I suppose that could be a good sign.

Well at least there is a vast amount of work buy all these potters out there. They shifted a fair few pots. That alone makes them collectable as the supply at auction is unlikely to just dry up.

'Vast amount of work' is relative of course. They are single workers, so there is a physical limit to what has been made. Once they cease working, then the source of supply will dry up. Phil Rogers and Richard Batterham are dead. Mike Dodd and Jim Malone are well into their 70's.
Add to that, that most collectors tend to hold on to most of their collections. So there may not be as much on the market in the future as there has been in the past.
The studio pottery collectors club is a relatively small one of course. It all depends on whether a new generation starts collecting it, and what their tastes will be.
Its interesting how the market for the older potters who were leach influenced is suffering. Derek Emms, Geoffrey Whiting, Malcolm Pepper etc....

I'm surprised there has been no mention of Mark Griffiths, another I rate is Andrew Crouch.

Mark could have joined the Goldmark "stable" but turned the offered down.

I was amazed a while ago reading a weekend supplement article where Florian Gadsby was mentioned because of the large number of followers that he has on Instagram. I knew that he had been an apprentice with Lisa Hammond and obviously, after starting on his own, he has gone down the social media publicity route.

He makes competent functional stoneware but with over 575,000 followers on Instagram it is obviously of interest to many people. He is still young and, if he continued along the same path, could end up as Richard Batterham did.

Not that I am jealous but to put the following into perspective, I have 725!!!!!  

Maybe it is publicity that will decide if the tradition continues and flourishes.