ellis ceramics melbourne

[Ash Barns]

Antonio, what a splendid find ermm I seem to have lost your address. lol

Ash

[PeterW]

Ash, ive got his address mate.....lets talk
Peter

[anttal63]

indeed indeed gentlemen. if you come the beers are on me maybe a plate of pasta too.

[lindsay farr]

In the early days Ellis pots were not all glazed. They were in fact sprayed to please the sensibilities of collectors of the day. Over the decades the spray application has seperated from the body of the pot. Here are a couple of examples

ellispot.JPG

DSC02270.JPG

These thin bodied, low fired,slipcast pots are often found cracked or chipped.
The Kratochvil's also made hand made one off pieces for special orders. The example shown below is 46 cm long

DSC02272.JPG

These pieces wereoften signed Ellis

DSC02276.JPG

When the factory in Nicholson st, Abbotsford closed in 1980, I was fortunate to acquire the bonsai pot moulds.
Here's an original Ellis piece and the mould that it originated from.

DSC02269.JPG

I was a regular visitor to the factory in the late seventies and early eighties. During this period the bonsai pots that they produced were slip cast from Walkers white slip. No hand made pieces were present.
These pots constantly appear at Sunday markets so keep your eyes open.
Cheers
Lindsay

[lindsay farr]

Buyer beware. Things are not what they appear to be. Fake Ellis pots are about.
It was in the early eighties that I acquired The pick of the Ellis bonsai. pots moulds.
Around that time the Yen strengthened and Japanese bonsaI POTS BECAME QUITE EXPENSIVE.

To cut costs I chose to make my own pots. Marietta was horrified when I commandered her gas Kiln
and became a mad scientist mixing oxides into the white slip in a quest for fine unglazed pots.

The early kilns produced chalky looking pots of a terra cotta appearance. As I experimented and triumphed the pots became of a sheen and solidity that I desired.

Here's an example

DSC02277.JPG

The issue is that the Ellis item numbers were embedded in the mould. These pots bear the Ellis item number

DSC02278.JPG

These are however, not authentic Ellis pots
Eventually my wifes predictions became reality and I ceased
making pots

DSC02279.JPG

All up I made around 500 of these pots and they do show up from timre to time.
BUYER BEWARE
cHEERS
lINDSAY

[anttal63]

no fakes here!

[lindsay farr]

nice work with the research anttal.
Cheers
Lindsay

[anttal63]

thanks lindsay, my pots were all purchased from a man you would probably know; JQ . in the day he was a huge retailer of ellis pottery.

[Lynette]

I agree with Pat the glazes look like cadmium. Yellow, lime green, red and orange cadmium glazes are still made by CESCO in Sydney. If the pots were made using walker white slip, they may be earthenware fired. I can't remember the glaze firing temperature just now but, I think they are around 1040 - 1060 degrees centigrade. You could high fire the pots first and then use the lower temperature glaze if anybody would like to try some.
Lynette

[lindsay farr]

My partner made a point about my definition of fake pots. She say's that they are not fakes because they are all moulded and that these pots were derived from the original Ellis moulds.
If a wood block print is printed using the original wood bock it is an authentic original even if created centuries later.
In reality Ellis pots were generally of poor quality. Slip cast eathenware. Thin walls. Low fired in unstable kilns.
I'd love to mould some using the Katsushi Kataoka slab method.
Ellis pots do of course hold an important part in our history because they made a difference.
One day when my trees stop yelling for attention I WILL.
Cheers
Lindsay

[lindsay farr]

Anttal,
Yes Of course I remember JQ.In fact he called me a couple of times offering Ellis pots a decade or so ago.
I didn't take up his offer as I had a large collection. I'm really glad that you appreciate these Aussie icons as I do.
Cheers
Lindsay

[Lynette]

Hi Pat,
If you are travelling north you know you are wellcome at our place. How about bed and breakfast for pottery lessons. Theres lot of good fishing, not fly fishing, but rock and beach fishing etc. I don't like seafood so I don't know much about it.
Lynette

[anttal63]

yes lindsay that would be him. he is about to go into care i think. finally cleared all the junk from his yards and the house has sold. i do appreciate my ellis collection very much!

[Pat K]

Thanks Lynette...I'll pm you!

Good luck with resurrecting the Ellis name Lindsay. If the pots you've shown (DSC02277& 02278) don't have a glaze and just have oxides added, you've done an unbelievable job... congrats!!
The third picture is a good example to the budding potters, of what can happen when you overfire an electric kiln.
pk

[lindsay farr]

Pat,
There is no glaze. For that finish i used heaps of black oxide and some red too. Then I waited for the cone to bend and over fired a little. This seemed to work perfectly till my cowboy approach led to melt down. I have a few Ming Dynasty Yixing pots made with Zisha clay. Most of these seem a bit chalky (even though they are not) in appearance but one from a hotter patr of the dragon kiln bears a similar glazed appearance to my better Ellis pots.
Cheers
Lindsay