Warren Mackenzie Pottery Resale Value (Artist Price Guide)

Mackenzie pottery has a a number of facets which drive value and should be considered when estimating value.

Form

Tied for the most important driver of value, form is one of the main ways that Warren played his craft and exhibited his unique creativity. The top forms for value currently are his massive platters, followed by boxes and large vases As the objects  become smaller and more useful such as dishes, plates, cups and mugs the value drops quickly. Platters in the thousands, mugs under one hundred.

Marks

Marks on Warren Mackenzie ceramics are the easy way to date them. As such, the rarity is reflected in the way the market values them. The market has a clear favorite in these marks; the period in which Warren Mackenzie double stamped. ( Stillwater Studio And Mackenzie) The next is the single stamped pieces which are worth about 25 to 30% less followed by unmarked pieces which are worth only about 10% of the double stamped pieces. It’s also to be expected that there is a small premium placed on crisp clear marks over obscured marks.

Decoration

Warren worked in a couple of major decorating styles, many of the utilitarian pieces are undecorated decorated with the classic simple Yoshino glazes that he is known for, however the more high priced objects among vases and platters are decorated with elaborate patterns of either slashing lines or bold brushstrokes with detail marks some cases exhibit a splatter decoration. Value tends to track the complexity of the decoration and reflects the amount of effort Warren put into the object himself.

Condition

Condition is very important considering the massive amount of Warren McKenzie ceramics that were created during his lifetime, as such unless a piece is very large well decorated and double stamped if it’s damaged it has only 10% if it’s undamaged value

Size

All things equal a larger word McKenzie ceramic is always more valuable than a smaller one at at the time of the writing of this article the auction record for a Warren Mackenzie ceramic is a large platter and if you look closely at many of the best results are also for large platters, these also happen to be the largest Warren Mackenzie ceramics available

Rarity

Rarity is a critical factor, often apiece which is never been seen in the market before but it’s clearly marked and have an interesting size shape or unknown decoration can bring a great deal more money than other things. Having said that demand is the real driver a value in this market, so Warren McKenzie objects that fill the other criteria generally are more valuable.

Provenance and publication

Of significant importance among most collectibles and artists work are examples of historical significance these are often 17 exhibited at museums or have been shown as favorites by the artist perhaps even owned by the artist in their home during their life. The crown jewel of this provenance issue would be owning works that I’ve been exhibited at a list museums, or owned by A-list celebrities.

Museum quality vs utilitarian

A fascinating dichotomy has emerged within the works of Warren McKenzie his ceramics are pretty clearly falling into two categories after his death. The first category is those works often on marked which he intended exclusively for use by people in utilitarian settings these are most often plates small dishes or cups and mugs. Many of these words coincidentally have had heavy use and are often therefore in poor condition. The market has come to show a very strong preference for the larger more decorative works such as platters, vases and boxes, these objects when double stamped are very rare and tend to be of the highest quality of his work. These also represent a very early time in his career when he was much less famous.