LONDON.- On 19 November, Maak announce a world record for a single work by a living ceramic artist, Madgalene Odundo whose Angled Mixed Coloured vessel fetched a price £240,000 (inclusive of Buyers Premium). The star lot in the Autumn Sale, Lot 239, was in immaculate condition and exceeded the previous record for her work, €195,000 (Sotheby’s Paris, 2015). The bouyant market for ceramics continues with auction results from the 276 lots seeing a 80% sale rate and a 153% value result against the mid-estimate.

Madgalene Odundo lives and works in Surrey and is a Kenyan born potter renown the world over for her hand built, highly burnished works. Many of the vessels Odundo creates are reminiscent of the female form. Her work has come into particular prominence following the success of her seminal exhibition, The Journey of Things at the Hepworth Wakefield and Sainsbury Centre in 2019, no doubt contributing to the international audience bidding on the lot. Angled Mixed Coloured is an iconic example of Odundo’s works and a rare occurrence for her work to come onto the open market. The piece was sold by Maak for a private collector who originally purchased it from the Candover Gallery in 1988. This record sale for £240,000 inclusive of 20% Buyers Premium represents the world record at auction for a single vessel by a living ceramic artist.

Female potters continue to hold their strong share of the market. One particularly strong result was Mary Roger’s unique piece, Striated Crinoid (Lot 107, 1983. estimate £800 - £1,200) which sold for £14,000 beating the previous auction record of £6,500. Ruth Duckworth’s stunning wall piece (Lot 90) doubled its estimate selling for £15,000. Early Joanna Constantinidis works consitantly attracted strong results including a 1970 Bottle Vase fetching £1,300 (Lot 100, estimate £400 - £500).

Maak have shown marked trends in their recent sales for Gordon Baldwin and John Ward. Baldwin’s 1989, Vessel from an Inscape, sold for £12,000 whilst John Ward continued his recent pattern for strong sales when Monumental Vessel with Dipped Rim, circa 2003 (Lot 167) selling for £18,000.




20th Century great, Hans Coper continues to surpass estimates for his work. A notable sale from this autumn’s auction was his Cup on Stand, 1975 (Lot 85), consigned by a private collector in Jersey, which sold for £36,000 against an estimate of £15,000 – £20,000.

FiredUp4 Charity Auction Raises over £100,000
The charity evening sale for FiredUp4, was equally successful with over £100,000 raised from the 33 lots donated by some of the UK’s leading ceramic artists. This money will enable Kate Malone MBE and her partners to build, supply and staff pottery studios within the Onside Youth Zones in the North West of England.

“We are overwhelmed by the success of this, our first FiredUp4 auction. The support of the 32 makers, the buyers and all our partners has been extraordinary. This money will go directly to building, supplying and staffing pottery studios in Chorley and Wigan’s Onside Youth Zones. Our aim is to facilitate access to clay for many more young people, clay can bring a multitude of positives to life that can be otherwise missing... We’re thrilled with this fantastic result. Hooray for clay!” Kate Malone MBE

The final hammer price for the auction exceeded expectations reaching £105,182 (inclusive of Buyers Premium donated to charity) going directly towards the ongoing fundraising campaign to facilitate pottery studios in Onside Youth Zones. Maak was delighted to host this first auction for the charity. Instigated and led by Malone and backed by Sara Cox, Johnny Vegas and Sir Lindsay Hoyle, among others, the auction included works by Madgalene Odundo, Edmund de Waal and John Ward.

As Marijke Varrall-Jones said “I’m so proud that Maak was able to support this project and be part of the long term campaign to give access to clay to young people, whilst some may become tomorrow’s potters all will without doubt benefit and grow from the experience!”