Stars of the future

It never ceases to amaze me how good the modern day studio potters really are , yes they have had a good grounding from their peers , but they still show a great deal of uniqueness in their work , the standards were set a while back and they have risen to them and surpassed them in some cases, I was reading the "art of the modern potter " by tony birks,( sadly most of the potters are no longer alive ), but great to see their works, did you know Hans Coper's technical expertise with clay had been used in co-operation with architects to produce various types of specialized brick. designed for their accoustic qualities, but have also been used for decorative purposes, he was tipped way back as a potter to look out for , I wish I had a time machine and bought his stuff many moons ago , but as my plans for said vehicle are in the infant stage I have to look forward , I am an advocate of Sam Hall's ceramics , a young guy with bags of potential that has already set the ceramic galleries alive , Peter Wills another who is worth looking out for , as an investment we are always taking a chance ( I love that) but if you like an artist work then i say go for it , I bet in 10 yrs time I will be wishing I had bought , Jane Hamlyn, Rebbeca Harvey etc. who do you think are the up an coming potters ? i know where my dosh is going and it's not into the halifax.

I agree with most of the above and think that studio pottery is good value but you should buy what you like. In general terms it is never going to fluctuate in value but increase steadily. That is unless you buy when things are trendy or from the odd gallery/dealer that has hyped prices above the potter's worth.

Back in the 1980s colourful work by Janice Tchalenko et al was very popular and expensive but today would never sell for the same amount of money. So if you bought them back then as an investment you made a bad decision.

When I first started to become interested in studio pottery I could have bought Lucie Rie items, as she was still working, but I took the decision that I would prefer to buy 3 pots by 3 different artists rather than one by her.

In financial terms that wasn't the best decision but I don't regret it. "Auntie Cyril" and his auctions made a good job of hyping Lucie to people with money and it hasn't stopped. I still don't like her work that much though. Therefore me making suggestions of up and coming potters and who to buy wouldn't be too reliable.



Because

Yes , I know there is no foolproof way of knowing who or what will be the gems in years to come , I think your decision to buy 3 pots by 3 artists is one which I would have taken myself , there are a few potters with big reputations from the past that I am not mad about, Lucie Rie is one of them , I have concentrated on pieces I particulary like , Robin welch , Wallwork and the like , it's been a slow process but I am trying to build up a nice cross section of my favourite pots/potters , I long to own a Gordon Baldwin Piece , maybe one day ? BTW one of your 3 pots wasn't by a guy called Hans by any chance , Ed

No guy called Hans but I think that I could have done worse, as they were Alan Wallwork, Svend Bayer and Mike Dodd.

I find it impossible to spend money on pottery just for investment.
I have invested a little in ceramics made by several potters who I think are very talented but much more in a genius called Guy Sydenham who's work may make me a heavy profit when I sell or make me very happy when I decide to keep it