Hello pottery collecting folks? Do you know that a good percentage of pottery sold on ebay and elsewhere has been repaired? Do you know your repaired pot or collections of pottery with repaired peices are worth far less in value?
Seems like common sense? Doesn't it?
  Before I sold the Huron moosehide moccasins my first love was fine handmade collectible American Indian pottery from the Southwest,Mexico and America's and Canadian woodlands.I still put a few peices on here from my collections from time to time that I left with relatives for safe keeping.
When I broke a fine Santo Domingo pot with a retail value of over 500.00  getting it ready for a Art Show in Tucson Arizona I decided the trail/road wasn't the place for fine collectible pottery!
I could roll the whole fruit stand over full of moccasins and never break or damage a fine moosehide moccasin!
 
Well I got that pot Santo Domingo repaired because I had all the expert repair person's in my file and had been in the pottery business at my Woodwind Gallery in Interlochen,Michigan prior to going on the road. I knew who could do it expertly and it was perfect. I sold it as a repaired peice. Everything I had repaired I sold as repaired because a long term honest relationship with my customers is more important to me than the profit from my sales. I would pick for pottery every summer at garage sales,flea markets,auction sales, estate sales.Some of it was damaged beyond belief. I bought a fine old Zuni Ola once directly from a potting shead for plants , the soil and plant acid had caused two thirds of the finish to flake off. The Auctioneer felt so sorry for me he threw in another beautiful modern pot and I bought both for 55.00. I got the Zuni pot repaired. Even announcing that it had been repaired it brought 250.00 at auction. It would have been worth 900. to 1,200. if I lied about the repair.I loved repairing those old pots that were damaged,I loved hunting for those sleepers. I never felt quilty about buying something from the so called (EXPERTS) at a greatly reduced price. Just because the experts seemed to enjoy being snooty, controlling, really wierd obsessed  money minded people. They liked to be in the (know) about half of them didn't know anymore than the buyer. Only one or two could actually pronounce the name of a particular Pueblo Artist or People correctly! LOLOLOLOL That is usually a clue. Some so called appraisers were/ are just as bad. They read a book on pottery or got their appraisal information in the mail order university, their real experience was nill and their appraisals wouldn't hold up in court.
Ebay has done as much to educate people/collectors as much as anything I know of! They often don't get credit for this part of the business but they have really leveled the playing field in a number of collectible areas. They also have allowed us a forum to directly communicate and address the fraud and deceit in the collectible market place.
 Now don't get me wrong I really have a love/ hate relationship with Ebay. Yet, they are the greatest marketplace in the world, where anyone can put down their trade blanket to sell immediately to a fairly safe world market! They nickle and dime you to death and sometimes actually make it difficult to communicate to do business to protect their own interests. They often start charging for listings before they actually get the item listed.They are a bit costly for the little guy, but you know I tell them the same thing I tell you and as far as I know they do not censor freedom of speech, so how can you not enjoy a partnership with folks like this? Their T/A people listen  patiently, to my personal complaints on the phone and relay them to superiors,sometimes they make changes, and I don't believe I have ever suffered any punitive damage from giving them my peice of mind!
Back to the broken repaired pots and a ceramic pieces every one can be repaired and you cannot detect it with the naked eye. Do you and your customers a favor,purchase a black light and shine it on all those peices before you collect or sell them, check those collections out I guarentee you will be surprized! You will even be surprized with peices you have purchased directly from known artist's in person who had to do a little touch up
work before they sold you that prized peice. That black light will be the best investment you can make if you are a serious pottery/ceramic dealer/ collector, that is the only way you can actually tell if the pot has been repaired, and I don't even have black lights for sale!

5/23/06 Update on Fakes, American Indian Pueblo Pottery, I have seen recently a number of pots signed with Lucy M. Lewis Acoma name,or Maria Martinez and Julian, or just Maria, it is very difficult to tell if it is real . These people apparently will stop at nothing to sell something fraudently. Make sure you check the listings carefully and read their listings carefully because both potters sometime signed their work with a common lead pencil ,Lucy often used a brush and paint.
 If the seller listing the item puts any type of disclaimer in the listing or on their site you should as a matter of practice decide to spend your money somewhere else. More than likely they have forged the signature. I recently saw a Acoma pot with the Artist's name and Acoma clearly painted on it and then penciled in at the side Lucy Lewis. LOLOL She didn't even know or care the actual artist name was painted there.These sellers know what they are doing they think they are covering more than the fake pottery bottom with their disclaimers but it is still considered fraud. The pot auction was up to 51.00 an authentic Lucy M. Lewis would be more like $500. to $600. for the same style pot.These fake Sellers ruin the Ebay market place.
Buy from an established pottery seller who you know is reputable and who has a return policy and plans to stay in business.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Sincerely,
Woody
Themocassinman