Latest news with #ceramics
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The incredible ceramics collection with a very surprising owner
Among the students of Oxford University, Sylvanus Sydney Denton was a name to be conjured with. For many years, he made his money selling bicycles to students, while simultaneously developing a passion for modern and contemporary ceramic art. He amassed a collection of over 220 examples which he kept in a specially built kitchen extension. Denton died last year at the age of 90 and his collection has gone on view at Sotheby's this week prior to being sold at the end of the month. It is estimated to fetch as much as £1.7 million. It is not known exactly when Denton caught the ceramic bug, but it was probably not until his late forties. Having done his National Service in Kenya he found work back home in Oxford fixing bikes and refurbishing caravans before investing in a bike and toy shop. By 1982 he had four shops and was displaying his ingenuity buying vintage 19th century bikes on which he posed for the local press. Sotheby's believes his journey to ceramics began with Modern British art (Henry Moore, LS Lowry and Barbara Hepworth) before he discovered more affordable ceramics by the likes of 1930s refugees from Nazi Germany, Hans Coper and Lucy Rie whose pots were beginning to be seen as fine art and superior to craft. According to the sale catalogue, one of Denton's earliest acquisitions was a work by Coper which he bought in 1988 at the trailblazing Oxford Gallery, which presented contemporary ceramics with avant-garde modern art by the likes of Terry Frost and Patrick Heron. Two works he bought there in the 1990s were by Edmund de Waal, the ceramicist and author of The Hare with Amber Eyes, long before he was swept up by the upmarket Gagosian contemporary art gallery. Denton also shopped at auction and in 1997 bought a Black Cycladic Form Arrow pot by Coper at Bonhams for about £9,000. To give an idea how Coper's prices have moved, another Cycladic Form Arrow pot bought by a different collector in the 1970s for £250 sold in 2018 for £381,000. Denton's example at Sotheby's is a comparatively tame £100,000 (check). Sotheby's describes Denton's collection as 'one of the finest collections of studio and contemporary ceramics in private hands'. Apart from Coper there are several delicate works by Rie in the £25,000-50,000 range, and a standout work by Elizabeth Fritsch, who is currently enjoying a high-profile exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield museum near Leeds. Denton bought Fritsch's 20-inch, vividly coloured 'Spout' Pot (1998) for a double estimate record £10,160 at Bonhams in 2004, since when her record has risen to £51,400 last year. The estimate for Spout Pot has now doubled to £12,000-18,000. Another auction buy was a playfully twisted 'Monumental Body Pot', by Joanna Constantinidis which Denton bought for a record £1,600 at Bonhams in 2002, two years after she died. Posthumously, her prices have crept up to £15,000 for another Body Pot in 2021 so Denton's example, now estimated at £4,000-£6,000 should make more. His favoured method of acquisition, however, was to buy directly from the artists themselves; he was very popular with potters. One was Dame Magdalene Odundo, the British Nigerian who was the subject of an impressive exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield in 2019. Three burnished terracotta pots by her in the sale all date from 1990/91, before she was famous. There is no record of their cost, but by this point art dealers were charging £5,000, compared to £250 in the 1970s. Since then, her prices have been multiplying. At auction in around 2010 they were selling for £10,000-£15,000, but after The Hepworth Wakefield show was announced and she was signed up by leading contemporary art dealer Thomas Dane, wealthy collectors like fashion designer Jonathan Anderson (who has been announced as the new head designer at Dior) began buying her work and at auction they soared to a record £533,400 for one of her pots in 2023. The estimate on that work was £100,000, a record for Odundo at the time. Now Sotheby's has gone a step further with two from Denton's collection estimated at £150,000 each. This is, though, a collection of value extremes. While most of the value is concentrated in just a handful of artists, the majority of lots are estimated at under £3,000 each, some with no reserve minimum price. Other artists include Janet and David Leach, the wife and son of the influential potter Bernard Leach, and Richard Batterham, a student of Leach who died in 2021 the same year that a pair of his pots hit a record £20,000 at auction. So, for fledgling ceramic collectors it's time to get on your bikes and bid. How the art market is coping with sanctions on Russia The sanctions that were imposed on Russian businesses after Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 put an end to the regular art sales, worth millions of pounds, which London used to stage mainly for the benefit of Russian buyers. Russian art auctions in London went from being worth over £100 million a year to nothing. But last year, Sotheby's held a sale – unnoticed by the press – entitled Fabergé, Imperial & Revolutionary Works of Art, which included Russian paintings, and it exceeded its £2.9 million estimate to make £3.9 million. And this November they are planning a repeat. So what is going on? According to analysis conducted by advisory group Overstone Art Services, Russian art continues to appear, but in different sale categories – from Old Master and 19th century to Modern. Russian art can be bought and sold, so long as the client is not a Russian passport holder or on a sanctions list. This April, for instance, Sotheby's included two paintings by the 19th century artist Richard Zommer, who worked in Central Asia and would previously have been sold in a Russian art sale, in its sale of Orientalist art together with a variety of European artists. One of his paintings, a depiction of a chaikhana (or meeting place for travellers) on the Silk Road, was estimated at £20,000 and sold for a record £114,300. Trade sources believe the Russian art market is buoyant within Russia, better than property, and that Russian buyers are still active in the West but operate under a dual nationality, as Ukrainian, say, or Belarusian. In a statement released to the Telegraph last week, Sotheby's said: 'Today there is a significant diaspora of Russians who collect. As ever, we have worked to ensure that we are complying with sanctions and other restrictions placed on Russian clients and property of Russian origin. Where appropriate, we have also been offering Russian paintings in international sales across various selling locations. While the international auction market for Russian art remains significantly smaller than it was, we have seen areas of positive momentum.' The statement echoes Overstone's observation that while sale totals are down, average hammer prices for Russian artists have increased, indicating that 'growth is already beginning to occur. If this trend continues, it seems likely that the accessibility of the Russian paintings market will increase, thus allowing for the market to grow again when the situation is more settled.'
Condé Nast Traveler
4 days ago
- Business
- Condé Nast Traveler
Beyond the Megacities, Uncovering Japan's Quieter Corners
At Satoyama Jujo—a modern ryokan housed in a lovingly refurbished 150-year-old farmhouse in Niigata—the first ritual is the bath. As I lower myself into the open-air onsen, bounded by whispering trees, the setting sun paints the mountains in amber hues. Though just over an hour from Tokyo, this place feels a world away. Later, as evening deepens, I make my way to the nearby river where a flutter of fireflies performs a luminescent ballet. After nearly two decades of calling Tokyo home, Japan continues to reveal itself to me in layers. The capital's labyrinthine sprawl—more a patchwork of village-like neighborhoods than monolithic metropolis—remains endlessly fascinating, with izakayas tucked into narrow alleys and century-old shops wedged between gleaming towers. But it was during the pandemic's forced stillness, when the borders shut for three years, that I began venturing deeper into Japan's peripheral spaces. Previously, my work as a journalist had briefly dispatched me to Japan's distant prefectures—the island of Honshu's sake breweries in Yamagata and fishing villages in Miyagi—but I'd find myself rushing back to the capital before I could properly experience these places. These days, I've embraced being a tourist in my adopted country; lingering in ceramics villages where the potters eschew electricity, and discovering remote temples carved into mountainside cliffs. While Kyoto's famous temples groan under the weight of selfie sticks, these quieter corners offer something that feels genuine—and right now, in particular, feels like a perfect moment to explore them further. Over the past few years, I've noticed a seismic shift in Japan's tourism landscape. Last year, the country welcomed a record 36.8 million international visitors. This momentum has continued into 2025, with over 10.5 million arrivals in the first quarter alone. During this period, foreign tourists spent ¥2.3 trillion (or $15 billion), up 28.4% from the same period last year. The country is evolving to keep up with the demand. New rail extensions have eased access to places like Fukui, on the Sea of Japan coast, while future expansions will unlock more areas in Hokkaido and Tohoku. I've watched with interest as new hotels and design-forward ryokan blend traditional aesthetics with creature comforts in regions where finding a decent cup of coffee once felt like a quest. Alongside these developments, small businesses have emerged to connect travelers with cultural experiences—craftspeople opening up their workshops, farmers offering culinary classes, and local guides creating bespoke itineraries. For communities facing population decline, tourism brings not just economic lifelines but something perhaps more valuable—renewed pride in cultural traditions that might otherwise fade into history. Recently, I've sought out hidden gems like Yamanaka Onsen—a hot spring town renowned for woodworking and lacquerware—that had previously seemed just beyond reach. Thanks to the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train expansion last year, I found myself here in just two and a half hours from Tokyo. By day I spent an afternoon at a lacquerware atelier where a master craftsman guided a visiting artist through techniques refined over centuries. That evening, I slipped into Bar Engawa, where Yusuke Shimoki serves sake in locally crafted vessels behind a counter in a traditional house with doors featuring intricate wooden inlays. Throughout the town, a new generation of ryokan and shop owners is working to revitalize the area, creating events that showcase regional artisans alongside local cuisine—and launching a contemporary arts festival inside historic buildings.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How modern ceramic techniques are revolutionising high horology: Watches and Wonders 2025 showcased hardy new pieces from Audemars Piguet, Chopard, Chanel and IWC Schaffhausen
Scratch resistant, heat-resistant, non-corrosive – what's not to love about ceramics? Used by humankind for some 25,000 years – and by the watch industry since the 1970s – the material is now becoming a ubiquitous material for high horology, appearing on timepieces in a wide variety of textures, colours and finishes. Audemars Piguet and Chanel are among the brands releasing new-school ceramic pieces. An example from the latter is the J12 Bleu collection of nine watches in a deep blue, nearly black, hue. At Watches and Wonders 2025 , Zenith also jumped on the blue train for its 160th anniversary, releasing new versions of the Chronomaster Sport, Defy Skyline and Pilot Big Date Flyback in a striking bright blue ceramic. Advertisement Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak Offshore Blue Nuit Nuage 50. Photo: Handout 'The properties of ceramics are very interesting, and you can play a lot with colours. I think clients are searching for this,' says Zenith chief products officer Romain Marietta, adding that the brand's uniquely developed hue allowed for a consistent shade over the whole watch. Zirconium oxide is the chemical name of the ceramic commonly used in the watch industry. Previously, its application was either dull or extremely shiny, but newer tools for processing the material have created more possibilities. 'Our suppliers now have more experience in mastering the material itself,' says Marietta, adding that one complexity is that the material shrinks by 30 per cent during the sintering process involved in its manufacture. 'Now, with better precision tools and better understanding, ceramic bracelets are tighter as they can be machined with smaller tolerances.' Zenith's releases this year also proved the brand could reproduce the types of finishes normally seen on other materials with ceramic. 'Polished, satin, microblasted and sandblasted [finishes are now more possible]. This [hi-tech] material is also relatively accessible, so we can create great-looking watches at a very interesting price point,' Marietta continues. He adds that much of the work is done by hand, and suppliers have become better at hand finishing. Zenith Defy Skyline 160th Blue Ceramic. Photo: Handout It's important to note that while brands work with ceramics in their watches, no brand has its own in-house ceramic case making and bracelet facility. Five major suppliers are Bangerter, Ceramaret, Comadur, Dexel and Formatech. As befitting a brand seeking the latest technologies and innovations, Marietta is excited about the future of ceramics. 'We feel the appetite of clients for something different, something surprising. We are also working on other components that have never before been made in ceramic. In the end it is not simple to sell a ceramic watch, because a lot of people prefer traditional materials. But if you appreciate colour, technique and things that are different, ceramic is a very cool material.'
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Take a peek inside this pavilion-style home on the lush island paradise of Bali
Almost two decades ago, husband-and-wife team Marcello Massoni and Michela Foppiani moved from Italy to Ubud in Bali to develop their hand-thrown pottery brand, Gaya Ceramic. Fast-forward to today and the company has a team of more than 100 local craftspeople who create one-of-a-kind ceramics, hand-thrown using a variety of natural materials such as porcelain, raku clay and stoneware. Clients include Armani/Casa and Bulgari Hotels. The couple's home – set in the middle of a rice field surrounded by jungle and a creek – consists of two large Limasan pavilions (traditional Indonesian houses made without walls). One features a lounge, kitchen and dining space. The other contains the TV area, bathrooms and bedrooms, the only enclosed spaces in the house to give protection from the wild animals that roam at night. All other areas lead seamlessly outdoors. In the open-plan dining area, a stainless-steel kitchen is framed by glass windows and teak columns that both insulate and support the space while allowing uninterrupted vistas over the landscape. A handpainted trompe l'oeil mural, based on the work of artist Henri Rousseau, wraps and zones the kitchen area. The concrete countertops and flooring absorb heat from the sun during the day and store it for cool nights. A traditional decorative bull head – found in homes in the Tana Toraja region of Sulawesi island – hangs above a handmade dresser in the entranceway and a gallery wall displays pieces collected from friends and family down through the years. 'Everything in our home has a story,' says Michela. The downstairs bathroom is adorned with ceramic leaves made by Michela to reflect the surroundings, and shelves throughout are stacked with the brand's ceramics. There is no such thing as a 'failure' at their studio. 'If we can't sell it or it doesn't work out the way we planned, we usually take it home or upcycle it,' says Marcello. 'It keeps things evolving and interesting.' This is an edited extract from The Reimagined Home: Sustainable Spaces Created With Joy by Nicole Gray, which will be published on 29 May by Quadrille, £35. To order a copy for £29.75 with free delivery until 8 June go to or call 020 3176 2937
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
A Wedding Gift Tradition That Keeps on Giving
Jill and Curt Cost were living in a Volkswagen bus on Maui when they wed in 1973, but Ms. Cost knew that she wanted blue-and-white dishware for the home they were planning to build. Her mother found the perfect set at an estate sale on Oahu — all pieces from Hadley Pottery, a sought-after ceramics brand in Louisville, Ky. — and gave it to the Costs as a wedding present. They became obsessed. Today, as the couple approaches their 52nd wedding anniversary, their daughter, Julia Cost, said the family home is 'stuffed with Hadley.' Generations of couples like the Costs started out with Hadley pottery that they received as a wedding gift. When Brenda Stanhouse was married in 1983, the mother of one of her fiancé's close friends promised them pottery if she was invited to the wedding. 'We were going to invite them anyway,' Ms. Stanhouse wrote in a Facebook group for collectors, who call themselves 'Haddicts.' It's fitting that the pottery has become a popular wedding gift given that the pottery was itself the result of a marriage. A Blue Horse With a Back Story Mary Alice Hale was born in 1911 to a family of clay tile makers. She married George Hadley in 1930, and the couple eventually moved to Louisville, where Ms. Hadley — a painter with an interest in folk art — decorated a whimsical set of stoneware dishes for a cruiser they kept on the Ohio River. The Hadleys entertained a lot on the boat, and friends who saw the ceramics began to request their own. The couple opened the Hadley Pottery factory in Louisville in 1945. Mr. Hadley managed the business and machinery, while Ms. Hadley designed and — along with a team of protégées — hand-painted household items that ranged from candleholders to lamps and tableware. The white-glazed wares featured folksy imagery in blue with green and pink accents. Best-selling patterns have always included 'Blue Horse,' an indigo-colored colt with a flowing mane, and the larger category 'Country,' which depicts farmhouses, farm animals and a farmer and his wife. The cute couple was based on a pair of close friends, at whose wedding the Hadleys had been maid of honor and best man. Ms. Hadley's figurative style was reminiscent of Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso, and the Museum of Modern Art selected her 'Brown Fleck' — a black tableware collection decorated in tan polka dots — for its Good Design exhibition in 1952. The collection, now retired, sold out at Bloomingdale's. Ms. Hadley was a social butterfly with a sense of humor, said Sarah Baker, Hadley's sales and marketing manager: The bottoms of many of her cups and casserole dishes read 'The End' and a cup for measuring alcohol declared 'Tell Pitiful Story.' After Ms. Hadley died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 54, her ashes were put into a Hadley flour canister with scenes from her life that she had painted for the purpose. Mr. Hadley received the same treatment later on, and the couple's remains were ultimately released into the Ohio River. Hadley Pottery continued under various ownership for decades but was set to close in 2022, when Brook Smith, a Louisville businessman and philanthropist, decided to buy the brand and bring it back to life. Wedding-Ready Again One of the company's goals was to restart the personalized pieces it had historically offered — especially its plates for milestones like weddings, which are inscribed with the couple's names and date of marriage. Liz Gorey, Hadley's business manager, said personalization 'is still probably the most popular thing that we do,' and that 'it's really neat that the tradition has persisted.' The new iteration of the company initially struggled to meet the demand and difficulty of producing custom plates, which take around an hour to paint and often fire imperfectly. With new kilns, new clay sourced by Kentucky Mudworks and a newly expanded team of artists and technicians, Hadley reintroduced the personalized dinner plates, which retail for $180 each, in February and lunch plates, which retail for $149, in April. Last year, the company launched an online gift registry. Maggie Ratliff, its first user, knew she would eventually be willed Hadley by her grandmother — but not for a while. 'She told me I'd have to go 'years and years without it,' as she wasn't dying any time soon,' Ms. Ratliff, 24, said with a smile. So for now, Ms. Ratliff, a prop stylist in Birmingham, Ala., and her husband, Sam, were gifted a wedding plate, plus some 50 pieces in the 'Country' scheme. Hadley is often an heirloom. Sheila Pfeffer Hauersperger, 68, who lives in Jasper, Ind., found the big bowl and mugs that she inherited recorded in her mother's bridal gift book. 'I treasure them,' she said. This month, Michaella Gaines, a 32-year-old who lives in Boston, registered for pieces to backfill a family collection that pictures clipper ships and whales — a nod to her childhood on Martha's Vineyard, where she will be married in September. The pottery is as an 'approachable gift,' she said. It's 'something we'll use for years and years down the road.'
