KIRKY wrote:Rory, I don't recall saying Japanese pots are superior. I have never praised Japanese pots unlike others here. I don't believe just because it comes from Japan that it is better. The quality of Japanese pots is no longer as high as it used to be.
The offence I refer to is the first post. I too know potters and that post was offensive.
Cheers
Kirky
Yes, I am sorry Kirky if it came across that way or sounded rude.
That was not a quote directed at you but directed at the many users who continue to glorify foreign pots when they purchase overseas pots. It was a point I was making that if we had a site for
pots that it would greatly increase the number of pots bought locally and begin to greatly increase the Australian bonsai pot industry.
The part which was directed at you Kirky, was just to say that I understand there are many costs for our potters to produce their pots. But all the other potters from overseas countries also have to bare their costs too. I also do understand there are advantages to being a potter in Japan, but at the end of the day the potter can ask the price that they see fit to charge for their pots to make it profitable.
And the funny thing is Kirky, if you were to purchase one of Pats equivalent pots, or Marie's, or Pennys, or Grahams from Japan.... you'd pay a lot more for them. I have seen pots which are quite similar to our potters. I also now own quite a few Tokoname pots and they are not always the famed quality I have been lead to believe. Yes, there are many lovely Japanese pots that I do own. But what I am basically saying is that if a potter feels they cannot compete against the prestige of Japanese pots or the costs are too much to make the pot, then they could perhaps charge a price that makes it worth their while.
Considering a lot of the well made shohin pots from Japan can be in the order of $200 - $400 when you include postage, I dare anyone to find a potter charging these sort of prices here.
And before the usual members here state that you cannot compare apples with oranges, I'm sorry but even the low quality basic tokoname pots not made by the master craftsmen I've seen, are still easily over $100.00
Now take a look at the shohin pots you can get from an Australian potter here for $30 up to $100.
I have no doubt that eventually sometime in the future there will be a collective Australian site showing or at least linking the basic shape of potters' designs by identity numbers to order online.
Then the potter receives an email from the buyer saying which pot number the buyer is after, the size of the options given, the preferred glaze .... and they'll start to create fierce competition to foreign pots.