Mallam's secondary design sale online

Mallam's secondary design sale in Cheltenham with a number of studio pieces including a number of boxed Japanese wares that seem popular at the moment.

It is a funny little auction room, not that much bigger than a double garage. Secondary indeed. hence a number of multi lots there. They are always of interest, but only if you can view them! Not too sure about the conidition reports though 'Normal firing faults'. What does that mean? Still, an interesting bits and pieces sale, but not any Gosh Wow! stuff Personally I do not have a clue about the Japanese pieces. Lots more do seem to be appearing at this type of auction tho.
Cheltenham itself is ain interesting place. We spent a few days there a couple of weeks ago for my wife's birthday. It has changed a lot over the past 25 years. It clearly reflects the wealth that has flooded the Cotswolds!

I have never been to the Cheltenham rooms ,actually i don't think i have ever been to Cheltenham. I think these Japanese boxed items are quite trendy at the moment ,i suppose being boxed it makes the ceramic seem more important somehow.

If I lived nearer and could get there and back in a day comfortably then I would be tempted to go to try and get an item or two to resell. However, I would never buy anything from Mallams without viewing, as from experience, they often miss things. What they describe as damage in the case of a number of the Japanese items could not be damage at all and therefore make them more desirable. So for the opposite reason, viewing and handling is paramount.

I began selling Japanese pots back in 2005 so before anyone else that's around but am really out of view of the new collectors. The Stratford Gallery (in Broadway, near Cheltenham) has recently had Japanese pots and been selling them at high prices and doing a better job than Goldmark. They seem to find it easy to sell chawan (teabowls) for a couple of grand or more, whereas Goldmark struggles at that level. Someone that I know did enquire about buying a piece and was told that it "might not be available" - a trick from the modern art market where they try and sell to the "right people" i.e. known collectors, whose buying would elevate subsequent prices.

To put me into perspective, I struggle at £150!

The Japanese pots are alright but most estimates are about right. There's a couple of vases that could be worth more but....

Generally speaking if a Japanese pots doesn't have a box then it's worth considerably less and much more difficult to sell. If you were in Japan and went and bought a pot from a potter at their pottery then most wouldn't come with a box. They could have teabowls with boxes in their showroom, if they had one, but they would be 2 or 3 times higher in price than those without boxes. When a Japanese potter has an exhibition then the pieces in the exhibition would generally all have boxes. Basically, the box denotes that the potter thought the item to be special.

studio-pots wrote:Generally speaking if a Japanese pots doesn't have a box then it's worth considerably less and much more difficult to sell. If you were in Japan and went and bought a pot from a potter at their pottery then most wouldn't come with a box. They could have teabowls with boxes in their showroom, if they had one, but they would be 2 or 3 times higher in price than those without boxes. When a Japanese potter has an exhibition then the pieces in the exhibition would generally all have boxes. Basically, the box denotes that the potter thought the item to be special.

Yes, a box could double the price of a pot because all the info of what the pot is, and who made it, and which kiln it was fired in, etc, is written on the lid. Without one it's like buying a painting without a title or signature. And it keeps it safe during transport.
I have yet to learn how to re-tie the straps that go round them

The Stratford Gallery used to be in Stratford Upon Avon before Covid. Maybe it was a bit hoi-polloi for them? It was about half a dozen doors down from a Wetherspoons! Mind you, Broadway is probably prime Cotswold money bags territiry!

I've bought a few things from the Stratford Galley's online shop. Nice people.

I have not had contact with the Stratford Gallery myself and so can't comment, except to say that the two different experiences of the gallery might have been price related. I am guessing that you haven't bought something from them for a few thousand.

Maybe I should put a little video on You Tube showing how to re-tie Japanese boxes?

studio-pots wrote:
Maybe I should put a little video on You Tube showing how to re-tie Japanese boxes?

studio-pots wrote:I have not had contact with the Stratford Gallery myself and so can't comment, except to say that the two different experiences of the gallery might have been price related. I am guessing that you haven't bought something from them for a few thousand.

Under £100
They've only recently being putting prices on. I would have bought some of Jane Wheeler's pots a few years back, but that was when they still had 'enquire' on their photos so I didn't bother