L.A. Pottery Show Dodges Rain and Mudslides

Neither rain nor cold nor mudslides could keep pottery collectors away from the 11th annual Los Angeles Pottery Show held at the Convention Center in Pasadena, California, this past weekend.

“We had a miserable week leading up to the show,” reported co-promoter Ken Stalcup, “but even though the weekend was cold, it was sunny and gorgeous, so the weather did not affect us very much.” His partner Dennis Warden added, “We have a very loyal following and so had a crowd of about 1400, which was on par with previous years.”

The Los Angeles Pottery Show is unique in that it showcases pottery of three different genres or, as Warden described it, “pottery of yesterday, today and tomorrow. About one-third of our exhibitors bring California pottery, one-third are contemporary art potters, and one-third bring vintage Ohio art pottery: such as Roseville, Weller and Rookwood.”

“California pottery is still not recognized as much on the East Coast,” Warden explained, “but it’s a big deal out here. California pottery from the 1930s through the 1950s always does very well. The contemporary potters also did fine this weekend. Some of the vintage art pottery dealers did well; some did not. For them, it was a mixed bag.”

Vintage art pottery dealer Jean Oberkirsch, who travels from Missouri to do this show, noted “they added a lot of contemporary potters this year, which did affect the balance of the show. And the new pottery was a lot stronger. The premier booth, considered the best booth in the show, had a contemporary potter in it.” She went on to say, “The crowd was pretty much the same as last year, but money was definitely an issue. And if the pocketbook is the issue, then people may be buying the less expensive contemporary pottery.”

“The question becomes,” she added, “will people keep coming to the show if they can’t find the antique pottery they collect?”

Mike Witt, a partner in the JMW Gallery (www.jmwgallery.com) in Boston, commented, “The show was just okay for us. The weather certainly may have played a factor in it, but California also has the fifth highest unemployment in the country. Regardless, higher end art pottery was just not selling as it has here in the past. And there were some great pieces here: an early Van Briggle vase, a great Fulper lamp, a piece of Overbeck and a large architectural Bachelder tile. Obviously, this show has a strong California look, but the people did show a broad interest, looking at everything rather than just for one particular pottery.”

Finding and holding onto the ideal weekend for this show has recently proved a challenge for promoters Ken Stalcup and Dennis Warden. This year’s date conflicted with another major show, so they announced before the close of the show that the 2011 Los Angeles Pottery Show would be pushed back to February 12-13.

“We know its just the week before the Grove Park Inn show,” Warden explained, “but if some of the dealers want to do both shows, they’ll have to get their act together.”

For more information on the show, please go to http://www.lapotteryshow.com.