Batterham pots

A customer of mine emailed me last night after visiting Rutland last weekend.

He has given me permission to copy part of his email here and so....

"I have just got back from visit down south (which pretty much means most of UK apart from Northumberland..) and spent the weekend with friend near Goldmark and we both went on Saturday and Sunday. Prices ridiculous. Hype ridiculous. Buyers on Saturday and Sunday were clueless and demonstrably following the pack (had interesting chat with a few… Batterham is soooo the best…). Recognised a few other attendees who I have either bought from or met at Potfest. I think safe to say those who knew what’s what just visited to see the spectacle of those who didn't have a clue part with an awful lot of money that they probably never recover (shades of the Clarice Cliff price bubble said one acquaintance)."

Thanks for posting that i think it confirms what many of us had been thinking.

Well at least they are happy and that's what counts. If you have that sort of money to splash about on lumps of fashioned dry mud then I doubt they will be selling any time soon. Oh wait they might have to sell it when they see their bloody electric bill next quarter

I think this discussion and others elsewhere on the Forum suggest to me that collector fall into 2 camps.

Those that buy because they like items and they wish to pay a lower price and keep it stable so they can add to their collection.

Those whose main purpose is to buy something as an investment and they want and need to pay a higher price because in order to have a chance of making money there needs to be a buzz and prices going forever upwards.

The latter don't have to considered electricity prices and the former might take the Bill Ismay approach i.e. do without central heating because it would have cost money that was needed to buy pots. In the recent book, it did say that Bill did complain about people in the 1980s starting to buy studio pottery as an investment and so limiting the number of pots he could buy. Maybe things don't change, just the sums of money involved get bigger.

If you are buying pottery for investment (a decidedly risky business in itself!) then buying from Goldmark you are buying from the most expensive source in the whole studio pottery market! It will take a verrryyyy long time for the secondary market to catch up with Goldmark prices (if it ever actually does!) and get a return on your 'Investment'!
It sounds as though Goldmark have succeeded in persuading the people who normally buy paintings and prints from them that Batterham is a Sure thing!

I suppose the true market value of Batterham pots will be seen after the Wooley and Wallis and Maak sales coming up. Both with impeccable credentials. One from the potter himself, and the other from the Driscoll collection.

I am not sure if we will see the really true market value even after these two sales, i think it's possible the buying frenzy for Batterham pots may continue for some time or until the market settles and more come out of hiding, after all there must be lots out there . Interesting that a dough bin or whatever they were called made just £1800 in December at MAAK, a similar one at Goldmark £8000!. I think it's possible that auction prices could soon be affected across the board due to world events etc.

philpot wrote:If you are buying pottery for investment (a decidedly risky business in itself!) then buying from Goldmark you are buying from the most expensive source in the whole studio pottery market!  It will take a verrryyyy long time for the secondary market to catch up with Goldmark prices (if it ever actually does!) and get a return on your 'Investment'!
          It sounds as though Goldmark have succeeded in persuading the people who normally buy paintings and prints from them that Batterham is a Sure thing!
         

I agree with you regarding Goldmark prices unless those buyers keep hiking the prices up elsewhere. It only needs two people to do that to keep it going.

When Goldmark began to sell pots he built the pot selling business on bringing in new customers to buy pots that never had done so before. He was a salesman and very good at it.

philpot wrote:I suppose the true market value of Batterham pots will be seen after the Wooley and Wallis and Maak sales coming up. Both with impeccable credentials. One from the potter himself, and the other from the Driscoll collection.

I remember when it was Lucie Rie pieces that were the only pots that continued to rise in price and after every Bonhams/Phillips sale I probably said that it couldn't continue. As I was wrong then, it's probably best that I don't comment either way.

Markets are funny unpredictable things. Equally given the studio market is such a small one, it only needs a very few to alter it. John Ward's pot increased by 10 fold in a few years. Emmanuel Cooper's rose substantially as well. Whereas Ewen Henderson's and Gordon Baldwin's work has not risen much in price in 20 years.
Did Richard Batterham do himself a disservice in not asking more for his pots in his lifetime?

Batterham has become increasingly popular amongst US collectors, but prices are outstripping Warren Mackenzie who was also known for his functional ware. I don’t see it’s sustainable

No great surprises in the Driscoll Batterham pieces for auction at Maak on 10 March. Prices substantially higher than they used to be, but no Gosh Wow prices. One would have thought that the very large vase would have got more, given the large price that a pair of such vases got at the Driscoll sale at Phillips.
https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/search/cce77831-8337-e811-80c2-0003ff3952e8?keyword=batterham%20

The prices for Batterham at MAAK were only about a third of those at Goldmark including commission .

philpot wrote:No great surprises in the Driscoll Batterham pieces for auction at Maak on 10 March. Prices substantially higher than they used to be, but no Gosh Wow prices. One would have thought that the very large vase would have got more, given the large price that a pair of such vases got at the Driscoll sale at Phillips.
https://maaklondon.irostrum.com/auction/search/cce77831-8337-e811-80c2-0003ff3952e8?keyword=batterham%20

I didn't view either of the sales "in the flesh" but two of my collector friends that visited the Phillips sale said that the pair of large Batterham vases at Phillips weren't very good, so, like you, I thought the one at Maak would have made more.

croker wrote:The prices for Batterham at MAAK were  only about a third of those at Goldmark  including commission .

Mr. G & son did a good job then.

I wonder how much they paid Mike Dodd for them?

philpot wrote:I wonder how much they paid Mike Dodd for them?

I would imagine that it would be his usual commission, which is still in line with other galleries operating today.

I haven't spoken to any potters that exhibit there for years but he was always very fair in the past. When he came into the studio pottery market he put up the retail prices but didn't keep all of the extra himself.

https://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/departments/20th-century-design/da170322/?p=1&s=160&v=list#lot-434
The results of the Batterham's at Wooley and Wallis today.
Lots 421-442. You have to scroll down quite a along way. Prices pretty much in line with those at Maak. The large vases and jugs are fetching £1000+ and ditto for the other large pieces. They epitomise the very best of his talent, and there are a lot less of them around. Interestingly there was a higher proportion of salt glaze pieces in this sale, which was originally consigned before Richard Batterham's death.
The V&A book of the Batterham exhibition at the V&A was delivered to me this morning. It has just been published. A lovely book with tremendous photos. The essays could have possibly been a greater part of the book though.