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The Art of Buying Pottery in South Carolina

Pottery is a group of natural earthenware vessels that can be either plain or decorative, colorful or exhibiting a consistent hue, that can add a great deal of character to your South Carolina home. Pottery, which has been around for over 10,000 years according to most experts and found in virtually every culture around the world, was originally used to hold liquids, usually water, and foodstuffs for later consumption.

Today, however, pottery usually serves more of an aesthetic function in most South Carolina homes and businesses. The problem arises because most people don’t know how to buy pottery. Knowing the difference between different styles of pottery can help you make a better determination of what constitutes a good price. With the following information you will be able to find the right pottery with which to give your home an added touch of beauty.

The Art of Pottery - Basics Of Pottery and Ceramic Resources

Pottery is a decorative or useful ware made of baked clay. Pottery includes everything from valuable works of art, inexpensive dinnerware, vases, and other simple household items, all made by professional potters. The word pottery also refers to the factory that makes pottery. Pottery ware is part of a larger product classification called ceramics that encompasses bricks, cement, sewer pipes, and other industrial products.

Four steps are needed to make a pottery product: Preparing the clay mixture, shaping the clay, decorating and glazing the item, and firing (baking) the pottery. The firing temperature gives pottery its finished appearance and its strength.

Types Of Pottery In South Carolina

Each type of Pottery is distinguished by its particular and specific clay mixture, plus the temperature at which the pottery is baked or fired. There are three major pottery types:

• Earthenware -Earthenware is a pottery clay mixture that is fired at a lower temperature. The low baking temperature allows the use of colorful glazes, but also yields a pottery that cracks and chips more easily than other types. Stoneware pottery is made of a heavier clay mixture that gives it greater strength.



• Stoneware -Stoneware is fired at a much higher temperature that results in a harder finish.



• Porcelain -Porcelain is the purest and the most delicate type of pottery. It is formed from koalin, a fine, white clay that is mixed with controlled amounts of feldspar and flint and then fired at a low temperature.

Keys To Buying Pottery In South Carolina

People spend their weekends digging through all sorts of rummage sales, yard sales, and specialty stores in South Carolina looking for the perfect piece of pottery to go in their home. Most people don’t have any idea what the different types of pottery are and how to buy the right type of pottery for their home. Pottery shopping can be done with these simple steps, which will allow you to purchase more pottery for your money and get a better value.

• Get educated on the different styles of pottery. Pottery can sell for all sorts of different prices. Fortunately, there are plenty of books and other informative resources on pottery that will explain the differences and the basic factors in good value pottery. This will help you stay away from the bad stuff and get the good stuff. It will also tell you what kind of pottery you want to shop for depending on how you wish to use pottery.
• As with virtually any other commercial item available through the general marketplace, pottery can be found on the Internet. This is another useful way to familiarize yourself with a South Carolina pottery dealer in your area that can help you choose the better pieces for your home. Logging onto www.Pottery.sc for a listing of pottery dealers near you is a good place to begin your search. Then find other auction sites, like Ebay, that have a number of pottery pieces for sale. If you simply watch what is selling online and the prices that they are going for, you can get a pretty good idea of what the new and used pottery market is like off line, too. Most online auction pottery items sell for at least a 25% discount to new off line merchandise.

Be prepared compare prices while you shop for pottery in South Carolina. Without proper price comparison, the other two points are almost meaningless. There are tricks to getting the best deal on pottery by comparing prices and no one should buy any pottery without price comparison.

Studio Pottery In South Carolina

Studio pottery is one area of pottery that has experienced a great deal of growth due to the desire for such pieces as artistic rather than functional objects. Studio pottery is made by artists working alone or in small groups, producing unique items in small quantities. Much of the studio pottery that was created before the 1980s is tableware or cookware. Since the 1980s there has been a distinct trend away from functional pottery and some studio potters now prefer to call themselves ceramic artists, ceramists or simply artists. Although studio pottery is represented by potters in South Carolina and all over the world the movement’s strongest roots are in Great Britain.

Ceramics have become more highly respected in the arts world during the last quarter-century in South Carolina and elsewhere. Before the 1980s there was scant international market for ceramics outside of Japan. There are now several large expositions of "Sculpture Objects and Functional Art," or SOFA, worldwide.

American Art Pottery In South Carolina

American art pottery has remained a hot collectible for over 25 years, collected by school teachers, major museums, and the rich and famous alike. These decorative ceramics are available in all styles and price ranges American art pottery, the American manifestation of studio pottery, offers an attractive element to any South Carolina home and a glimpse into America’s recent past.

Art pottery was produced across the United States from approximately 1880 to 1920 by nearly 200 pottery makers ranging in size from huge factories to single potters. Much like today with the numerous regional styles and variations available, early American art pottery was of two major styles.

One, more Victorian in its approach, treated the clay body of the pot as though it were a canvas on which to paint. The other method was pottery that involved sculpting or tooling a more stylized, organic decoration into the surface of the pot, unifying the vessel and the design into a single expression.

Locating American Art Pottery In South Carolina

Learning about art pottery is easier than ever. The prices also indicate the popularity of art pottery, rising steadily over the past two decades. In fact, several major American and South Carolina museums have added extensive collections of America’s best ceramists. While viewing these public collections is an excellent place to start, this can be a little frustrating because pottery, more than most other art forms, needs to be held to be understood. The fine matte glazes used on most art pottery pieces are as inviting to the touch as to the eye.

Therefore, attend any art pottery fair, auction, or collection open to the public as possible so that you can handle the pieces personally. Even smaller auctions and pottery shows, with a dozen or fewer pottery offerings take place annually These events offer an unequaled opportunity to both see art pottery up close and meet others who share your interests.

South Carolina Pottery Pricing Guidelines

Determining how much to pay remains an issue because, unlike the other elements of collecting, this is more of a moving target. Like any other market, prices are subject to change at any time and those changes are usually upward. Other variables that determine a pottery piece’s price includes where you find it, what condition it’s in, and the design. How many pieces are actually available on the market also counts.

For example, some pottery made in a particular area of South Carolina may mean that style of pottery is widely available. Finding this same pottery in other areas, however, could make it pricey since there may not be as many pieces available. Better quality pieces are more expensive and, depending on the style, slight damage can either drastically reduce the price (by as much as half) or actually add to the pottery’s character while still reducing the price only about ten percent.

Fortunately for the new collector, there is plenty of pricing information available that can be studied and used to your benefit. Online sales of art pottery show thousands of pieces and online price guides offer compilations of auction results from across the nation. Live auctions are usually accompanied by color catalogs, some of which even include accurate condition reports. The pottery prices of pottery found at antique shows in South Carolina and beyond will give you a useful price gauge by which to shop smart.

Buying pottery that meets your own needs is most important. While having a working knowledge of the pricing structure and pottery styles, getting pottery that captures what you want to exhibit in your home or office is the best guide. Matching the pottery to your overall decoration scheme will heighten your pottery collecting pleasure.