Sonia Sjoholm, Porthleven

Edited to add, she sadly passed away December 2022  - Admin




A studio lampbase I bought from the Cornwall area on ebay 12"x5"x4", extremely heavy,it looks a bit like wallwork ,hudson, and troika influenced , any ideas ?

This is an email I received this morning in my quest to find out about this piece.
Dear Eddie,



It looks very much like an Alan Wallwork except for the mark so I forwarded your pictures to him and got the following in his reply -



"Now JT might be Joyce Taplin and SS might be Suzanne Stainer, her sister, both of whom worked for me at Marnhull.  If they did make this between them I'm surprised but my memory is not always accurate.  Something lurks in the mists about them putting their initials on pots but what the idea was has long gone.  What's curious is the "notching".  I did this I thought only at Blackheath Road,  a reference to the notching on the mooring posts on the Grand Union Canal in Watford when I was a kid.  Joyce and Sue might well have seen one like that on the shelf at Marnhull and made their composite version.  How did it get on the market though?"



So it could be the "two sisters" and I certainly don't have any better suggestions.



How did you obtain it? - that might help to throw a little light on things.



Best wishes



John
Harlequin Gallery

Talking of unmarked pieces.

I reckon this 17cm vase is one of Alan's, but there's no W scratched on the base...



Someone had a very similar piece on eBay this month and said it was a Wallwork vase -- it was also unmarked.

Thanks, Naomi

I always had my doubts about it being a Wallwork piece - it just didn't seem like his work. Neither was it quite like Louis Hudson's. Mystery solved!

I just looked at the thread for Sonia and found this reply to Big Ed from Alan Wallwork:

...What's curious is the "notching".  I did this I thought only at Blackheath Road,  a reference to the notching on the mooring posts on the Grand Union Canal in Watford when I was a kid.


Did Sonia ever mark her work?

I'm not familiar with Jon's pottery either.

By being an assistant to Jon, I guess their work was similar. Was it?

NaomiM wrote:Correction: Sally Sjoholm. Assistant to Jon Cheney in the late 60s. Registered it as Aztec Designs

I have seen pieces online naming Sally Shalam. It must be the same person and my guess is one is her maiden name.

I am assuming that Sally & Sue might have been the sisters that Alan mentioned to me that worked for him at Marnhull. Any thoughts, Naomi, as until I saw this thread just now, I hadn't remember contacting Alan for Ed(die).

NaomiM wrote:Tom Parry (on FB) discussed these vases with Sally Sjoholm. I’m not sure about Wallwork

I have contacted Sonia via my wife's FB account and pointed her to this forum. Sonia said she trained with Louis Hudson and passed on the studio to Graham Fern in 1969. Hopefully we can learn more soon.

NaomiM wrote:  Would love to hear more

Here's what Tom wrote to me:

Sonia told me that she joined Jon's business as an assistant in 1967, more or less from school I assume. It was called Pots & Togs, his wife Patsy selling clothes there and later taking up jewellery making. The premises were the former lime kiln and recently became a branch of Rick Stein for a while. Louis Hudson trained Sonia in the technique of coiling and sometimes batting chimney vases learned from his time with Alan Wallwork. In turn Sonia trained a later assistant Graham Fern in the same way. Louis left to start his own pottery at Trethevey in 1968. Sonia left at the end of 1970. At a later date she had wider training from Bill Marshall at college in Redruth. The Cheneys left Cornwall in 1971 or '72. Graham Fern then set up on his own account.

It sounds like Louis Hudson also worked with Jon Chaney (mavbe from 1965). I though he started his own studio after leaving Alan Wallwork in London.

Here's a bit more info c/o of Tom:

Sonia lives in Porthleven again and paints but does not pot. Louis gave up potting many years ago. When last heard of he still lived at Trethewey but may have passed on by now. Graham Fern returned to his native New Zealand many years ago and died less than 12 months ago. His daughter Fenella worked with him for a time in Porthleven then followed to NZ where I believe she does some pottery teaching.

I've copied this info from the Sonia Sjoholm thread. She worked with Jon Cheney. It's c/o Tom Parry:

Sonia told me that she joined Jon's business as an assistant in 1967, more or less from school I assume. It was called Pots & Togs, his wife Patsy selling clothes there and later taking up jewellery making. The premises were the former lime kiln and recently became a branch of Rick Stein for a while. Louis Hudson trained Sonia in the technique of coiling and sometimes batting chimney vases learned from his time with Alan Wallwork. In turn Sonia trained a later assistant Graham Fern in the same way. Louis left to start his own pottery at Trethevey in 1968. Sonia left at the end of 1970. At a later date she had wider training from Bill Marshall at college in Redruth. The Chaneys left Cornwall in 1971 or '72. Graham Fern then set up on his own account.

cycladelic wrote:I've copied this info from the Sonia Sjoholm thread. She worked with Jon Cheney. It's c/o Tom Parry:

Sonia told me that she joined Jon's business as an assistant in 1967, more or less from school I assume. It was called Pots & Togs, his wife Patsy selling clothes there and later taking up jewellery making. The premises were the former lime kiln and recently became a branch of Rick Stein for a while. Louis Hudson trained Sonia in the technique of coiling and sometimes batting chimney vases learned from his time with Alan Wallwork. In turn Sonia trained a later assistant Graham Fern in the same way. Louis left to start his own pottery at Trethevey in 1968. Sonia left at the end of 1970. At a later date she had wider training from Bill Marshall at college in Redruth. The Chaneys left Cornwall in 1971 or '72. Graham Fern then set up on his own account.

That's a great additional info to the GF story and history, thanks cycladelic. Would it be OK for me to copy this and add this to my GF story on my website, thanks Ernest.

Here's a 6½ tall vase made by Sonia Sjoholm in the late 1960s that arrived today.

It does not have her impressed SS mark, but neither does the other one I have - last photo...

Sad news: Sonia passed away in December 2022.

I had planned to get one of the exhibition cards to her - there are two pieces of hers included...

Hi
I'm Sonia's son Luke. Me and my siblings have been trying to find out more about the exhibition mentioned by cycladelic (we've managed to find the exhibition via Facebook but as it's in Taiwan it's a bit hard to find out more). We'd love to get hold of one of the exhibition cards and if possible view the pieces online (are they the ones owned by cycladelic?)
Mum was quite tickled when she found out about the exhibition and with her passing we're trying to find out whatever we can about it.
Many thanks, Luke

This turned up on ebay a couple of days after mum's funeral. It's definitely Porthleven pottery and most likely one of mums. Prior to this I've been hunting for one of her early pots for years, only ever found 2, one I gave to her and I was outbid on the other so while I can't be certain who made it I was delighted to aquire it.
Still looking for a lamp base if ever you should find one
Cheers Luke

PastyDuchy wrote:This turned up on ebay a couple of days after mum's funeral. It's definitely Porthleven pottery and most likely one of mums.

It will be your mother's work. It seems she didn't mark most of her early pots. I've sent a message to you.