From Exhibition to Auction: Icons of Modern Ceramics at Maak
This November, Maak presents two significant auctions in Covent Garden, London. Leading with their principle Contemporary Ceramics auction – held twice per year – and followed by Elemental | Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, their annual auction dedicated to modern and contemporary works from Japan, the auctions celebrate the breadth and vitality of studio ceramics today.
With over 450 lots on offer across the two auctions, Maak brings together traditional and contemporary works representative of the best of British studio ceramics alongside notable names in international practice.
View the auctions:
Contemporary Ceramics traces the evolution of ceramic art across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, opening with early Anglo-Oriental pioneers such as Bernard Leach and William Staite Murray, before leading into a significant group of works by Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. A rare presentation of a group of important works by Ruth Duckworth is a highlight of the sale, her influence evident in the sculptural expression of makers including Donald Locke, Ewen Henderson, Gordon Baldwin, and Gillian Lowndes. The enduring appeal of John Ward is met with an exceptional range of his pots, while a rare early work by Magdalene Odundo from 1982 is another notable feature. Many works in the auction come from the highly regarded collection of Marc and Diane Grainer, which formed the focus of two auctions at Maak in May.
Running in parallel, Elemental | Contemporary Japanese Ceramics celebrates the rawness of nature in its purest form – minerals, earth, and fire – and how the Japanese ceramic masters have harnessed these unpredictable elements to extraordinary effect. The auction spans influential Mingei artists, including Hamada Shoji and Kawai Kanjiro, to the avant garde Sodeisha movement with works by Kumakura Junkichi and Hoshino Satoru, alongside renowned contemporary makers including Kondo Takahiro and Mihara Ken. Important contemporary female ceramic artists from Japan are also well represented, among them Ogawa Machiko, Koike Shoko, Sayaka Shingu and Tokumaru Kyoko, while a commanding large vase by the pioneering and singular Kamoda Shoji stands as a centrepiece of the sale.
Each May and November, Maak presents a series of auctions thoughtfully curated to reflect the extraordinary variety and depth of creativity within contemporary ceramics. However the team at Maak don’t simply catalogue the works – they love to build context. Whether it’s celebrating the stories of the maker or the collector, in bringing together an infinitely varied group of works from private collections around the world, Maak aspires to share the narratives that gives collectors and audiences alike a richer understanding of the work.
The ever growing popularity of ceramics and its narratives is evident in the remarkable number of important gallery and museum exhibitions dedicated to the medium in the past year, each bringing wider focus to this dynamic discipline and inviting audiences to consider the work in ever broader contexts.
In the US, Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan is a groundbreaking exhibition first presented by the Art Institute of Chicago and now travelling to other major US institutions. The exhibition focuses on 36 contemporary female ceramic artists from Japan whose innovative work has challenged traditional, male-dominated practices and the potential for clay as a radical medium. Ogawa Machiko (Lot 97), Koike Shoko (Lot 95), Sayaka Shingu (Lot 117) and Tokumaru Kyoko (Lot 96) were all represented in this seminal exhibition and have works being offered in the Maak Elemental auction.
Hans Coper was the focus of an important exhibition Hans Coper: Resurface in early 2025 at The Arc in Winchester. More than 20 of Hans Coper’s sculptural pots spanning his career – including two works loaned by Maak – were shown alongside three large scale murals that were uniquely presented together for the very first time. The Maak auction includes a select group of works directly from the Coper Family Collection (Lots 87-90), as well as an important Cycladic Form (Lot 91), an iconic work from the latter end of his career that exemplifies a refined distillation of all of Coper’s arctic concerns and principles.
In the UK, The Hepworth Wakefield currently has a major retrospective on show Elizabeth Fritsch: Otherworldly Vessels running until Spring 2026. The exhibition explores her diverse influences from classical and jazz music, mathematics, Surrealist literature, metaphysics, and architecture. Maak has offered a significant number of works by Fritsch over the years, establishing an auction world record for her work in 2024. Lot 217 in the forthcoming auction is an example of her quieter early work from the 1970s with further major work available by private sale.
Ceramics has become an important focus of The Hepworth Wakefield, who have built a reputation for delivering important ceramics exhibitions. Later this month will see the opening of Playing with Fire: Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto – previously presented at Kunstsilo, Norway and CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art, Denmark – where the work of acclaimed Danish ceramicist Axel Salto will be shown alongside a major new installation by Edmund de Waal reflecting on Salto’s enduring influence. The work of de Waal is always well represented in the Maak auctions and this November sees a selection of both early porcelain vessels (Lots 296-300) and a contemporary installation piece (Lot 301) by de Waal on offer.
Whilst Coper, Salto and de Waal have been extensively exhibited on an international stage, important retrospective exhibitions of less widely known artists are also on the rise. This summer saw the opening of the first major survey exhibition Donald Locke: Resistant Forms showcasing the Guyanese painter, sculptor and ceramicist, at Spike Island, Bristol. Charting the development of his work across Guyana, the UK and the United States over five decades from the mid-1960s to the late 2000, his ceramics that evoke human and natural forms feature heavily in the curation. The Maak Contemporary Ceramics auction includes a rare offering of two works by Locke (Lots 145 & 146) each with directly comparable examples selected for the exhibition. The exhibition is now showing at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham until February 2026.
Following two major presentations of new and historic work in the UK in 2024, November will see the opening of Magdalene Odundo at Xavier Hufkens in Brussels, Belgium showing a new body of ceramic vessels together with the large-scale glass installation ‘Transition II’ until January 2026. Lot 302 in the auction is a rare early example of Odundo’s work from 1982, where her practice was just becoming formalised before she started experimenting with increasingly complex forms.
As public institutions and galleries worldwide continue to stage landmark exhibitions dedicated to ceramic art the momentum behind the medium has never been stronger. Maak’s November auctions present a rare opportunity to experience many of these same artists’ works in one place, not behind glass but within reach. Whether you are a seasoned collector or newly discovering the field, these auctions offer the exceptional chance to encounter, study, and acquire works by makers whose significance is increasingly recognised on the world stage.
Both auctions are now viewing online. The Covent Garden gallery exhibition (40 Earlham St) and bidding will open on Saturday 15 November, with bidding closing on Thursday 20 November at maaklondon.com.
About Maak
Maak is the leading auction house specialising in contemporary ceramics and craft. Known for its expertly curated sales and dedication to showcasing the best in international ceramics and craft, Maak provides a platform for collectors to acquire rare and exceptional works from both established and emerging artists through both their regular auction schedule and private sales.
