Unearthing beauty

Clay's role in the fine art world is expanding we have advice on collecting and reveal six studio ceramicists to know

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FOR thousands of years the human hand has taken a simple material dug from the ground and fashioned it into objects of beauty and necessity. We are, of course, talking about clay. The earliest known artefacts made from it were not bowls or tools as one might imagine, but expressive statuettes. Despite this millennia of creative endeavour, for a long time in modern society pottery was seen as a 'lesser' art form than its sculpture and painting cousins and was given short shrift by the lofty art world. However, for the past decade or so, this has been rapidly changing and we can confidently declare that the role of ceramics in fine art is no longer emerging but has very much arrived.

'Thankfully, people are finally realising the value of ceramic art and there is no better time to start a collection,' says Debra Finn of leading contemporary craft gallery Cavaliero Finn. 'Apart from it being a very accessible art form financially, collecting ceramics gives you the opportunity to engage with a diverse and dynamic art form that combines aesthetic appeal, tactile pleasure and cultural significance.' Indeed, there are few artistic areas that grant collectors such a wide breadth of areas to explore. 'Many of our collectors started with functional items - plates and cups, for example but graduated to sculptural pieces by contemporary artists. Other collections may focus on 20th century studio pottery pioneers such as Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, European ceramics from the great factories of Meissen and Sèvres, or work from specific regions such as Korea's celadonware, China's Ming dynasty porcelain and Japan's tea ceremony bowls."