Show Us Your Pot Collection

[Redwood Ryan]

Hey Nuts,

Last week I bought my first two "actual" bonsai pots off one of the auction pages on Facebook. This is exciting because everything I've owned has been your typical Chinese production pots.

I bought a Shawn Bokeno pot, and a Chingwen Chen pot. First up is the nice little Bokeno pot:


And here's the Chingwen pot, awesome texture:




I'm a big fan of both potters; Shawn has elegant, classic pots, and Chingwen has unique, rough textured pots.


I thought I'd start this thread for you all to show off the pots you're proud of. I know nothing about pots or what makes certain pots so rare or expensive.

I remember at the PBA show back in May, @rockm and I were looking at some of Matt O.'s pots. We would pick up a tiny shohin pot and see a $300 price tag on it. Matt knows what he's doing of course, but I just don't know what makes a certain pot from a certain era more valuable than the other, so that's also why I started this thread.

Feel free to share your pot collection or just some information about the value of certain pots.


Ryan

 

[LanceMac10]

http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/one-of-my-favorite-pots.9674/

 

[Redwood Ryan]

I clearly don't follow pot threads

 

[rockm]

Hey Nuts,

Last week I bought my first two "actual" bonsai pots off one of the auction pages on Facebook. This is exciting because everything I've owned has been your typical Chinese production pots.

I bought a Shawn Bokeno pot, and a Chingwen Chen pot. First up is the nice little Bokeno pot:
View attachment 115668 View attachment 115669

And here's the Chingwen pot, awesome texture:
View attachment 115670
View attachment 115671
View attachment 115675

I'm a big fan of both potters; Shawn has elegant, classic pots, and Chingwen has unique, rough textured pots.
View attachment 115678

I thought I'd start this thread for you all to show off the pots you're proud of. I know nothing about pots or what makes certain pots so rare or expensive.

I remember at the PBA show back in May, @rockm and I were looking at some of Matt O.'s pots. We would pick up a tiny shohin pot and see a $300 price tag on it. Matt knows what he's doing of course, but I just don't know what makes a certain pot from a certain era more valuable than the other, so that's also why I started this thread.

Feel free to share your pot collection or just some information about the value of certain pots.


Ryan

Pots are not only visual, but textural. Detail, construction, artistic sensibilities and the most important piece--the ability to put all that together, is what makes one pot more valuable than another. Age CAN be a factor, but only if it's significant, like over 100, or if the potter has died, or isn't making pots anymore.

It isn't really the "era" a pot was made in, that makes it more valuable, although old "Nakawatari" pots (do a search, it's a term worth knowing) command a premium. That premium is usually for their refined sense of proportion, and other artistic sensibilities--(wabi/sabi, shibui, mono no aware, etc) that the Japanese value. Also one or two potters can become popular, then fade, as others become "must have". Collectors pay for that kind of thing in any hobby.

All of this is better explained in person with actual containers. Good pots can actually feel better to the touch.

 

[VAFisher]

I recently discovered Bokeno pots too. I understand he's been selling on facebook for some time, but I'm not on facebook. Anyway, I found his Etsy shop, really liked his pots and struck up a conversation with him. He's in the process of setting up a new kiln this fall that will allow him to make pots up to 20". I like his shapes and his glazes.

 

[rockm]

Will always be a fan of Ron Lang, even though he is no longer using his immense wood fired kiln and has moved to N.C. His pots are proportional and precise in construction, glazes aren't overpowering either. All of that makes them useable as bonsai containers. Take a look around at the pots on his site. He understands a pot's proportion and glaze and their relationships to the tree.

His website says the last firing in the Pennsylvania kiln was Aug. 22. There are a dwindling number of pots fired in that kiln available. I hear he's moving to a gas fired kiln.
http://www.langbonsai.com/sales.htm
http://www.langbonsai.com/

 

[ColinFraser]

Still wish I'd bought this one. Damn!
http://www.bonsainut.com/threads/im-starting-to-understand-you-pot-people.21150/

 

[Solange]

As in most things (and bonsai particularly) there seems to be a fair amount of myths that circulate. I've noticed people judge pots for strange reasons, what country it was from, what kiln it was from or what cone it was fired to. One thing to keep in mind is that while individuals can be pretty consistent, there will always be variation between pots and some are just constructed better. Same goes with kiln. Just because it's from a certain kiln does not *guarantee* a standard of quality. There seems to be a lot of people who believe Cone 10 is the best, but what they should be concerned with instead is wether the piece is properly vitrified, and the percentage of absorbtion that equates. A good potter will be able to tell you the absorbtion rate of the piece, and that will tell you what you need to know about the level of vitrification. A cone 6 piece can have better vitrification than 10 if the 6 uses a proper clay body for that cone and the 10 uses a mismatched clay body. I've noticed some very sought after potters are a bit sloppy in terms of fine finishing of pieces, making sure that the drain holes don't have edges and water actually flows to them being an important one. At least in America I'd say we have a fair amount of catching up to do in terms of pot appreciation, and understanding what makes something valuable vs something else. It's a combination of function, age, use and beauty. It does seem that we are picking up speed fast though. Interestingly, it seems there are some very fine mame and shohin pots around for relatively cheap prices comparative to larger ones. What makes that interesting is that often it takes the same amount of work, and in some ways is more difficult to pull off smaller pieces because any variation or mistake is magnified. Think about this in terms of trees, it's much harder to make a convincing small tree than a pretty large one. I expect the market to change a bit in that regard in coming years. In the end, what makes certain pieces (I'm talking hand built pieces here) cost more than others has more to do with the potters demand and reputation than the actual work, knowledge, or care that was required to produce it. I'm sure some people will not like this post, but this is how I feel, and I have a bit of pottery background to back it up. Finally, I haven't tried any chingwen pieces but I like what I have of shawns. And they are pretty affordable. I expect his overall quality and pricing to only rise. Welcome to the dark side, pots are awesome and addictive!

 

[rockm]

Some of my pots in the backyard. English, American, Japanese, Chinese...

 

[ColinFraser]

A Little Pot Shopping

 

[Solange]

Thanks to rockm for reminding me of the purpose of the thread bad lighting but here are some of my small ones - some crap, some excellent, some 50+ years old, some brand new, some production, some handbuilt, some japanese, american, european, chinese, and one or two that i made myself. there are three of shawns in this photo as well, the blue oval in the very bottom left with the orange/tan pot inside and the two very small greenish rectangles with flat corners. cheers!

 

[Dav4]

Too many...and these are the ones without trees in them. The ones outside are big, the ones on the plastic and wire shelves are less so, and the ones in/on the display case are the higher end stuff...too many....or not enough!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

A few not in use:

A few more...

A few favs; Tofukuji, Koyo, Gekkou, Sharaku:

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Antique Chinese (nakawatari):

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Nice collection of Gekkous you have going Dave! Still think your dragon one is about the coolest one I've seen of his.

 

[Dav4]

A recent pick up...

 

[Dav4]

Nice collection of Gekkous you have going Dave! Still think your dragon one is about the coolest one I've seen of his.

It's one of my favorites.

 

[Stickroot]

Potheads!

 

[Stickroot]

These will be here tomorrow.
Koyo
Older koyo
Erin

 

[Stickroot]

And Heian Kosen